Another Sea
by Trafalgar Neo
Summary: Their eyes blinked in disbelief as they stared out at the sea before them. Instead of the blue sea they were use to seeing the sea is black with stars sparkling inside of it. Maybe they can figure out where they are. That is if they can even remember who they are in the first place. (Neo/Law)
1. Lost: Luffy & Law

Lost

Luffy & Law

A mix of light and dark purples laid out above him when Law opened his eyes. Pressure pounded in his head. Bile threatened to rise from his stomach.

Closing his eyes, he took several slow and deep breaths until his stomach settled back down. Once that happened he pushed upon his arms and sat up. His hand brushed against something hard. Looking down he found a large sword and a black sheath with white plus signs lying next to him.

He had no idea who it belonged to but for some reason the sword felt familiar to him. He reached for it. His fingers were less than a half of an inch from it when a dark aura emanated from it. It was a cursed sword. Pulling his eyes and hand away from it, he continued to look around. The rocky ground was hard and grey in color. To his right he found a large forest with bluish green flora that sparkled and massive large trees. Looking to his left he found a black haired teenager that lying sprawled out on the ground a few yards from him. The boy was wearing pants that fell below his knees and an open red shirt and a straw hat was lying by his head. His mouth was open and he was snoring.

Law lifted his hands and looked down at his palms. The wheels in his head turned but couldn't come up with a reason on why he was in this place. It was at that time he realized he couldn't remember anything about himself but for his name. "What's going on here? Why can't I remember anything but for my name?"

A loud, unidentifiable roar lifted up from the forest. It sent his heart racing through his chest. His hand grabbed the sword beside him and he leaped to his feet. Facing the forest, he waited for the beast to come. Silence was the only thing that met him. Several seconds passed before he lowered his sword and his defenses. His eyes dropped to the sword. "Am I…a swordsman? I grabbed this thing like I knew what I was doing. For all I know it belongs to that kid over there." He paused and looked over to the boy. "I wonder if he knows where we are. Should I wake him?"

Law stared at the boy for a while before looking around his surroundings again. With no idea where he was and what kind of danger was out there, he decided to wake the boy up. So he sheathed the sword and walked over to him then nudged the boy's arm with the toe of his boot. "Hey, you. Wake up. Tell me where we are."

"Naw…I'm hungry," the boy said.

"Then wake up and eat," Law said while continuing to nudge the boy. "Come on. Wake up. I said wake up!"

"Huh?" The boy opened his eyes. He sat up and looked around, a stream of drool running down his chin. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Law said.

"Huh?" The boy looked up at him. "Who are you?"

"Trafalgar Law," Law said. "Now tell me where I am."

"I have no clue," he said looking around. "This place is weird. Where are we?"

"Didn't you hear me? I asked you that question," Law said with an annoyed sigh.

The boy jumped to his feet and started to run around. "Wow! This place is so cool!"

A dull pound appeared behind Law's eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose with a heavy sigh. Turning away from the boy, he headed off towards the left, away from the forest.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" the boy asked.

"To figure out where I am," Law said.

"I'll come with you!" he said.

"Why?" Law asked as the boy ran up to his side. "Just go home."

"I would," he said. "If I knew where my home was."

"What do you mean?" Law glanced over at him.

"I don't remember where my home is," he said.

"You don't remember?" Law stopped walking.

"That's right." He walked a few feet ahead of Law then turned around. "I only remember my name. And that's Monkey D. Luffy."

"D?" Law asked.

"Of course," Luffy said. "Though I'm not sure what the D means."

"I see," Law said.

"What did you say your name was?" Luffy asked.

"Trafalgar Law," Law said. He paused in thought of whether he should tell this boy he too had the initial D in his name. For whatever reason he didn't feel like this boy was a threat to him. Still, he decided not to tell him about it.

"Trafa….Traffy…oh! Tra! I got it now!" Luffy grinned.

"You're an idiot," Law said before walking off again.

"So where are we going?" Luffy asked.

"I'm going to look around and try to find out where I am," Law said. "I thought I already told you that. I don't care what you do."

"Great! I'll come with you!" Luffy said.

"I'd rather you didn't," Law said.

"Why not?" Luffy asked. "You seem to know where we're going."

"I told you already that I don't know!" Law said. "I can't remember anything but for my name!"

"Then we're in the same boat," Luffy said. "And we have to stick together."

"Whatever," Law grumbled. He continued to walk forward for about half a mile. Salt appeared into the air. Soon he was lead to a beach. His eyebrows drew together in confusion. Instead of seeing a blue sea he saw a black sea full of stars. Pushing passed it he looked out into the sea. In the distance appeared to be another island of some sort.

"Wow!" Luffy exclaimed. "I wish we had a ship! We could go sailing then!" He ran out into the water. "I would love to…go…what's wrong with me? I feeling tired."

"What are you doing?" Law asked when Luffy slumped in the water. "Hey! You're going to drown!"

Bubbles rose to the surface from Luffy's face being in the water.

"That idiot!" Law ran out into the water. The water seeped through his jeans, wetting his skin. His energy left him. "What's…going on?" His kneels buckled, causing him to drop to the ground. "My energy…it's fading." Ice-cold panic gripped his chest when the waves lapped against him. He was going to die if he didn't get out of the water. He closed his eyes. No ideas of how to get out of this mess came to him. "Crap. I'm going to die out here."

' _You can't die,'_ a voice said.

"What?" Law opened his eyes.

' _Hold out your hand,'_ the voice instructed. _'You know what you have to do. Trust your instincts. Hurry before it's too late.'_

Law, for whatever reason, lifted his hand. It came to him. His instincts lit up with knowledge of what he should do. "R-room." A blue sphere spread out around him and Luffy. "Sh-shambles."

In a flash, the two were back on the beach, safe from the water's draining affect. Law rolled over onto his back. His chest heaved up in down as his energy came back to him. He glanced over at Luffy. The boy was laying on his side, his mouth open, and his eyes closed. Law's heart skipped a beat. Luffy wasn't breathing. Pushing himself to his hands and knees, he crawled over to Luffy. He pushed the boy onto his back. Placing his hand over Luffy's nose he confirmed he wasn't breathing. So he pinched Luffy's nose closed and breathed into his mouth before pumping his chest. "Come on. Breath. Breath, dang it!"

Luffy coughed. Water shot out of his mouth before he gasped in air.

"Good," Law said sitting back on his legs. "You're breathing."

"What happened?" Luffy sat up.

"For some reason the water drained our energy," Law said. "We both almost drowned."

"How did we survive then?" Luffy asked.

Law opened his mouth to reply, but paused. He looked down at his palms. "I'm not sure. I formed some kind of sphere and was able to pull us out of the water."

"Sphere?" Luffy asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Watch." Law held out his hand. "Room."

"Wow! That's so cool!" Luffy screamed when a blue film spread out around them. He jumped up and started running around in it. "What is this thing?!"

"I don't have a clue," Law said.

"What else can it do?" Luffy poked at the blue wall.

"Will you stop that?" Law said. "I have no idea what will happen if you pop it."

"But it's fun," Luffy said while he continued to poke the wall. "Doesn't feel like anything's there."

"I said stop it!" Law swiped his hand threw the air. His eyes widened when Luffy's body severed in half. "What the…?"

"Ah! What happened to me?!" Luffy cried. His arms flailed as his legs ran around in a circle. "I'm going to die!"

"I'm sorry!" Law jumped up and ran over to the boy. He paused when he noticed that Luffy wasn't bleeding. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?! I'm dying that's what!" Luffy said.

"No, you're not," Law said. "You're not bleeding."

"Huh?" Luffy looked down at his body. His top half was floating above his bottom half. "What the heck?! I'm still alive?!"

"How is this possible?" Law asked. He bent down and examined Luffy's body. "Amazing. It's a clean cut too. No ragged edges at all."

"That's great. But can you put me back together?" Luffy asked.

Law studied Luffy's body for a few more minutes. He then grabbed his shoulders and pushing his top half to his body half. It sealed back into place. "Amazing."

"Yeah!" Luffy ran in a circle. "I'm back to normal!"

"But how is that possible?" Law stood up. "How did I know that would work? And how did I know how to get him to breath again? What's going on here?"

"Yahoo! I'm normal again!" Luffy shouted. "I'm normal!"

"There's got to be answers somewhere," Law said. He looked around his surrounding again. He found he only had two options. One was to continue looking around this place and hope someone was here that could tell him what was going on. The second was to get to the other island across the sea. But that would need a ship, boat, or a raft to make happen. So the decision was made for him. He had no choice but to look around this place and see what was here. So he walked down the beach in search of other life, the sphere disappearing as he went.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Luffy called out from behind him.

The hours passed. And nothing else seemed to be on the island. Law had no idea how big the island was either. Legs and feet aching from walking so long, he sat down on a fallen tree. "This is great."

"I'm hungry," Luffy whined as he plopped down on the ground. His stomach released a loud growl. "We need food."

Law's stomach growled as well. "There might be some fruit trees inside of the forest."

"I want meat," Luffy said.

"Only if you can kill something," Law said. "The only weapon we have is this sword."

"You can kill with that," Luffy said. "And you can use your sphere thing."

"If you hadn't noticed that doesn't kill things," Law said. "You remain alive."

"But I'm hungry!" Luffy whined.

"Don't make me regret saving you," Law said.

"But you're hungry as well," Luffy said.

"Fine," Law said. "Let's go into the forest and see what we can find." He stood up and turned to the forest. "By the way, I heard some wild animal roaring in here. So watch it. It might find us to be its dinner."

"Whatever! Let's go!" Luffy dashed into the forest.

Law sighed. Resting the sword on his shoulder, he followed after the boy. The salty air gave way to the smells of the forest. The strongest smell smelled like honey and bark. All the flowers were large and in shades of blues, grays, and purples. Vines ran down the majority of the trees. He looked up one vine. He wondered if it could be use to escape whatever wild beast they may encounter while stuck here. He also wondered if they could use the wood here to build a raft incase they needed to get to that other island. Reaching out he grabbed the vine. His fingers were unable to circle the entire thing. The vine was bigger than he thought it was. It would be hard to use it as rope.

"Hey! I found some fruits over here!" Luffy yelled.

Law followed after Luffy's voice and found him hanging onto a very large yellow and orange spotted fruit. The fruit was hanging thirty yards off the ground. Several other identical fruits were hanging with it. He watched as Luffy took a giant bite. "You really shouldn't eat unknown foods like that. It could be poisonous."

"Ish yummshy," Luffy mumbled around the food.

Law rubbed his forehead, hoping the fruit was poison so he didn't get stuck with this child for the rest of his life.

Luffy took another bite.

Law waited for any signs of Luffy getting sick. No such luck. It seemed the fruit was eatable. He walked over to it. Unsheathing his sword, he cut off a piece of fruit for himself. He looked over it. The inside was a bright yellow and smelled like citrus. He took a bite. Citrus flavored juice flooded his mouth. He chewed and swallowed then took another bite.

That skin crawling roar erupted from the forest again. Leaves shook off the trees and cascaded down around them.

"What was that?" Luffy asked.

"That was the roar from before," Law said.

Luffy jumped down from the fruit. "It sounds so huge!"

Law glanced over at Luffy, wondering how the boy was able to move so easily after the chest compressions he did. It also made him wonder how he knew what to do in the first place. Helping Luffy live came off and felt so natural to him.

The roar sounded again. Following it was a low thump that made the ground rumbled.

"Great." Law grabbed the hilt of the sword. "How big is this thing?"

"Maybe it's a giant!" Luffy said.

More ground shaking thumps followed it.

"Giant might be right," Law said. More leaves fell from the trees as the thumping came closer and closer. "We have to get out of here."

"Why? Maybe it's friendly?" Luffy suggested.

The creature rushed through the tree, coming into their view, and roared.

Law took a step back. The creature was at least fourteen feet high. Its skin was dark gray. Two teeth, three feet long at least, protruded from its bottom jaw and tapered off to sharp points. Its front legs were longer than its back legs. Wiggling its paws revealed dagger like claws stained with blood. He opened whatever it killed wasn't human. But he knew it didn't matter as soon as its yellow eyes looked down at him and Luffy.

"Wow! It's huge!" Luffy said with a laugh.

"You're laughing? At a time like this?" Law growled in a low voice. "And keep it down. We don't want to make it angry."

The creature roared and charged for them with ground shaking fury. Just before it could hammer its large paws down on them, they jumped.

"I think we're a little late on that!" Luffy said. He held his hat to his head to keep it from flying off. "I think it's already angry!"

Law grabbed a vine and swung himself away from the creature before landing back on the ground. He pulled the sword from his sheath. "I guess we're going to have to fight it."

"Fight it?" Luffy asked. "Do you even know how to fight?"

"I'm not sure," Law said. The creature turned and roared at him. "But I guess we're going to find out." He stood ready as the creature charged at him. Once it got close enough he leaped to his left and sliced at the creature's leg. It roared in pain, blood tainted the air. "Don't just stand there! Help me!"

"What?!" Luffy looked around. "What can I do?!"

Law jumped into the air when the creature swung its massive head towards him. His eyes widened when the creature's paw followed him. It was faster than he thought. The paw was about on him when he remembered his sphere. He held up his hand. "Room! Shambles!"

Law appeared on top of the creature's back. He held up his sword and stabbed it into its skin.

The creature roared and trashed around, trying to throw Law off of its back. It swung its head in an attempt to knock him off. The creature knocked down small trees as it rampaged. It then charged towards Luffy.

"Ah!" Luffy screamed when he saw it coming.

"What are you doing?! Don't just stand there!" Law shouted. He held on tight to his sword, wondering where he should teleport himself. Or maybe he should teleport this monster somewhere. Or divide it up. Yeah, that's what he would do. Have it in multiple pieces so it would give them enough time to figure out how to kill it. He started to pull out his sword but stopped when he saw Luffy winding up a punch. "What is he doing?" "Come on!" Luffy said before throwing out a punch.

Both Law and Luffy's eyes widened when Luffy's arm stretched out impossibly far. Luffy's fist slammed into the creature's chest. The creature released a sharp whine of pain before collapsing onto the ground, dead.

"What the heck did you just do?" Law asked.

"I'm not sure," Luffy said. His arm came back to him with an elastic snap. He looked at his arm like it was a foreign object before throwing out another punch. The same result happened. His arm extended far beyond what it should before snapping back into place. "Wow! That's so cool! It's like I'm made of rubber or something!" He grabbed his cheek and pulled it away from his face. A joyous laugh escaped him. "So cool!"

"So weird," Law said. He removed his sword from the beast. Staring at the blood he wondered again why he felt like this sword belonged to him. He knew it did. He just wished he knew how he knew. Glancing back over at Luffy he found the younger boy was pulling his skin away from his body as much as he could. "Would you stop doing that?"

"Okay!" Luffy released his cheek. It snapped back into place. He then pointed at the beast. "So do you think we can eat this thing now? I'm still hungry."

"We might not have much of a choice," Law said. His stomach was still growling from hunger. "Fine. But don't blame me if you get sick from an unknown poison inside of it."

"It'll be fine," Luffy said. He moved closer to the creature and picked it up.

Law's eyes widened in shock at seeing the display before him. It shouldn't have been possible for such a lanky boy to pick up a creature that size.

"Come on!" Luffy said while heading back for the beach. We're going to need a large fire to cook this thing up!"

Law sighed yet followed after the boy. He flung as much blood off his sword as he could. Once they reacted the beach, he stepped upon a rock that jutted out into the water a few feet. He dunked his sword in the water, washing it off the best he could. He then went back over to find Luffy working on creating a fire. Before long a hot flame lit up around them. The wood snapped and crackled the hotter the blaze got.

"Um, do you think you can cut it up for us?" Luffy asked while pointing at the dead creature.

"Fine." Law formed his sphere then sliced the animal up. He watched as Luffy stuck pieces of the meat on sticks and hung them over the fire. He was unsure of eating this meat. But when the cooked flesh floated into his nose his mouth watered in anticipation. So once the meat was no longer red he sliced himself a piece off and ate it without hesitation. "We need to get off this island."

"Hm?" Luffy glanced over at him his cheeks stuffed with meat.

"Most likely there's no other human life on this island," Law said. "This beast, I'd say, proves that."

Luffy swallowed. "So what are we going to do?"

"There's another island not far from here," Law said. "It might be bigger than this one. So people might be living there. If we can build ourselves a raft we should be able to make it there."

"And if we fall in the water?" Luffy asked.

"We'll just have to be careful," Law said. "If we paddle together we should be able to make it to the other island."

"Why don't we just stay here?" Luffy asked.

"We can't do that," Law said. "This island most likely has a limited supply of food. If you hadn't noticed this creature we're eating has been the only one we've seen."

Luffy chomped down on a large piece of meat and swallowed it.

Law sighed and rubbed his forehead. "And with how you eat I doubt the fruit on this island will last very long."

"Okay then," Luffy said. He licked his lips and grabbed another piece of meat. "We'll build us a raft and leave."

"It might take a while to get a raft built considering how huge everything here is," Law said. "So don't eat everything up in one day."

"You got it," Luffy said.

"We should probably also play around with our…abilities…to see what else we can do," Law said. "How did you know you could punch like that?"

"I didn't," Luffy said. "It just happened."

"I see," Law said. "That's what happened with me and my sphere. I wonder if we were born with these abilities or if we obtained them somewhere."

"Who cares? We have them so let's just use them," Luffy said.

"Don't be stupid!" Law snapped. "It could be dangerous to jump in without testing things first!"

"How can being made of rubber be dangerous?" Luffy asked.

"Well, it could…" Law didn't really know. But it was clear to him this Luffy wasn't the cautious type. "Never mind. So tell me again, you don't remember anything but for your name?"

"That's right," Luffy said. "I know what food is and the fruits, the water, the ground, the island, the-"

"Okay, okay. I get it," Law said. "It appears whatever happened to us only erased things about our lives."

"Such as?" Luffy asked.

"Well, these powers of ours for one thing," Law said. "And we have no clue where we are from, or how we got here, or what this creature actually is."

"So we have kind of memory loss?" Luffy asked.

"That appears to be the case," Law said. "So we should be able to get our memories back after a certain amount of time. Or I hope we do. There has to be a reason we have forgotten everything that we have. And there has to be a reason as to why we're together. And why we both ended up on this island."

"Of course there's a reason we're together," Luffy said.

"And what's that?" Law asked.

"It's because we're friends!" Luffy grinned.

Law's eyebrow twitched. The dull throb returned. "I highly doubt that with how much you annoy me."

"But if we weren't friends then why would we be together here?" Luffy asked.

"I don't know," Law said. "Maybe we're enemies and I was on the verge of killing you."

"No, that didn't happen," Luffy said.

"How do you know?" Law asked. "I'm the one with the sword."

"Because we're not hurt," Luffy said.

Law looked down at his body. The boy was right. There wasn't any injures on their bodies at all. It only added more confusion on why they were here in the first place. "So what? We just appeared here out of nowhere?"

"Why not?" Luffy asked.

"Because that's ludicrous!" Law said. "People just don't lose their memories for no reason at all!"

"How do you know that?" Luffy asked.

"Because I'm a…" Law paused. He didn't know. Yet he said it. Why? Taking off his white and black spotted hat, he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I don't know anything."

"Fair enough," Luffy said.

"Nothing fair about this at all," Law said.

"Don't worry about it," Luffy said. "I'm sure we'll figure something out. I know we will."

Law scoffed. "Whatever."

"Relax. This is going to be fun," Luffy said with a grin.

"This isn't going to be fun at all," Law said. "This is going to be dangerous."

"We survived this far," Luffy said.

"Only by chance," Law said. "We got lucky in killing this beast before it killed us. We might not be so lucky next time."

"We'll be fine," Luffy said. "I just know it."

"Well, that's nice," Law said.

"I mean it," Luffy said. "I can feel we'll be fine. This place actually feels rather familiar."

"How so?" Law asked.

"I'm not sure," Luffy said. "But I got a weird feeling that I've been in a place like this before. Maybe we'll run into someone who can tell us who we are. Someone has to know that."

"Maybe," Law said. "If we're in an area that we've been before. If not then we're screwed."

"Come on! Think of it as an adventure!" Luffy said.

"We have no memories of ourselves but for our names. We were almost killed and eaten by an unknown beast, and we have no idea where we are," Law said. "How can this be an adventure?"

"It just is!" Luffy said. "And it's going to be fun!"

"You know, I think I might be the one to kill you," Law said.

"Then you'll be all alone," Luffy said.

"Might be worth it to have some peace and quiet to figure things out," Law said.

"But we can't figure anything out if nothings here," Luffy said.

"We haven't searched the entire island yet," Law said. He stood up, placed the sword on his shoulder, and walked away from Luffy and the fire. His skin cooling off the farther he got away from the blaze.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" Luffy asked.

"To continue searching the island," Law said. "And to get away from you."

"Great! I'll come with you!" Luffy jumped up and followed him.

"I'd rather you didn't," Law said.

"You might need me to help fight another beast," Luffy said.

Law didn't have anything to say to that. He wasn't sure if he would have been able to beat that creature himself or not. So he let the boy tag along with him. They walked along the beach before coming to a rock formation blocking their path. He looked to his right. The rocks appeared to go into the forest, disappearing in the thick foliage. "Well, I'd rather not go trekking through the forest. If someone passes by this island we won't be able to see them from in there."

"Then let's keep going straight," Luffy said.

"And how do you expect us to climb this rock?" Law asked.

"Like this." Luffy wound up a punch and tossed it to the top of the cliff. He then put his other arm around Law.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?!" Law demanded. "Let me go at once!"

"You want to keep going. So we're going," Luffy said just before flinging them into the air.

"You're going to pay for this, Straw Hat!" Law shouted. The wind whipped his face, threatening to knock his hat off.

"Yahoo!" Luffy landed at the top. "That was fun!"

"That was stupid!" Law stumbled forward when his feet hit the ground. "You could have killed us!"

"Never happen," Luffy said. "By the way, what did you call me?"

"What?" Law asked.

"You called me Straw Hat," Luffy said.

"I did?" Law thought about it. "I guess I did. Must be because of your hat. Do you not want me to call you that?"

"I don't care," Luffy said tugging his hat down a bit. "I actually like the sound of it."

"Fine," Law said walking forward. "Let's just go."

"Right!" Luffy nodded.

Law huffed and walked forward. The waves crashed against the side as they walked along the rock formation. Ten minutes passed by before they finally reached the other side. The air cooled off, chilling his skin. He glanced at Luffy. The boy didn't seem to mind that it was getting colder. Standing at the edge of the formation, he looked down before spreading out his sphere. He didn't want Luffy to get them down from the rock. "Room. Shambles."

"That's so much fun!" Luffy said when they reappeared.

"Shut up," Law said as he continued to walk along the beach. His eyes scanned both the water and the island. His hope dwindled with each step they took. Neither ship nor house appeared in sight. No other animals appeared to be on the island like he had thought. A couple hours later, or so he assumed since they had no sun to tell what time it was, he and Luffy reached their fire again. "Well, that's that. There's no one else on this island. Unless they're hiding in this thick forest somewhere.

"I'm exhausted." Luffy plopped down on the ground, his tongue hanging from his mouth.

"Since we have no idea how to tell time here, we might as well get some sleep," Law said. "We can work on a raft later then set sail for the other island."

"Setting sail sounds fun," Luffy said. "Maybe the other island will have a ship. We could really go sailing then."

"Sailing huh?" Law mumbled. "Now why does that sound familiar?"


	2. Star Line

Star Line

 _Law walked along the woodland path. The flowers around him were larger than a ship. The trees stretched out over the clouds, blocking the sun. Several animals rushed passed him seemingly not caring that he was there at all. He found it odd. Wild animals always ran when humans were around them. He wondered why these weren't. Still he kept walking. They appeared to be going in the same direction that he was._

 _He had no idea how long he was walking but suddenly the forest began to thin out as colorful crystals appeared growing from the ground. For some reason they reminded him of the elements of nature. There were red ones, blue ones, light blue ones, and green ones. Each gave off a warm glow that was a few shades lighter than their color. He continued on the path he was walking. Then an odd sensation filled his body, mind, and soul. Someone was close to him. His heart started beating erratically in his chest. He knew who it was but didn't know who it was. He wanted to hurry and find them. So he broke off into a run._

 _The presence he was feeling kept getting closer and closer, yet he never saw them. He continued running on the path until it led him to a small circular field with several animals surrounding a large white flower that was closed up tight. The presence was strong here, the presence as inside of the flower. He walked forward, the need to be near the flower over whelmed him. His feet carried him forward. The animals parted for him as he reached the flower. Someone was inside. They were making his heart pound and his palms grow sweaty. He had to see. Reaching out he placed his hand on the flower. Its silky petal shivered under his touch before the petals started to open. He stepped back, giving the petals room to open all the way. His heart rate speed up. It was a woman. Though he couldn't see her face he could see the subtle curve of her body under the black top she was wearing. He stepped back to the flower. His hand reached up and slipped under hers. Her skin was soft, just as soft as the flower's petals. "Can you hear me?"_

 _Her fingers curled against his. Her head turned towards him, but he still couldn't see her face._

 _"Who are you?" Law asked._

 _The woman sat up but didn't answer him. She released his hand then turned her body and slid off the flower. She was a whole head shorter than him. It gave her an innocent childlike feel._

 _He wanted to hold her, to wrap his arms around her and protect her for the rest of his life. He reached for her to do just that but was interrupted by a strange darkness that surrounded them. "Who's there?!"_

 _The animals shivered before bolting for the safety of the forest._

 _"There's nothing you can do," a voice said. "You all are lost forever."_

 _"What are you talking about?" Law asked._

 _"Give up," the voice said. "You can't win."_

 _"I demand you tell me what's going on!" Law said._

 _"Give up, Trafalgar," the voice said, fading away with each word. "Give up, Trafalgar. Give up, Tra. Get up, Tra…"_

"Get up, Tra. Hey, Tra? Tra?" a voice called to him through his awakening senses. "Are you going to get up? I'm hungry."

Law opened his eyes. He started when he saw Luffy staring right at him only a couple inches from his face. "Straw Hat! What heck do you think you're doing?!"

"Trying to get you to wake up," Luffy said. "You've been talking in your sleep for ten minutes."

"What?" Law sat up and looked at his younger companion. "What do you mean?"  
"You were talking in your sleep," Luffy said.

"I was?" Law asked.

"You were talking about some kind of flower and then you were demanding to know who was talking to you," Luffy said. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah." Law placed a hand on his face. He tried to recall what he was dreaming about but only got bits and pieces. "I was with someone. A woman, I think."

"A woman, huh?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah." Law nodded. "That and I saw some kind of crystals growing out of the ground."

"Crystal? Growing out of the ground?" Luffy tilted his head. "That's weird."

"It was just a dream," Law said. He lowered his hand and looked around. The stars were still shining brightly in the sea and no ships were in sight. "We better get started on our raft."

"Can't we eat first? I'm hungry," Luffy said.

Law wanted to protest but his stomach alerted him to being hungry as well. He pushed himself to his feet. "Fine. We can have some of that fruit for breakfast since we're going into the forest anyway." He picked up his sword then headed for the tree line. "Let's go."

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered and ran ahead of Law.

Law sighed but continued to follow after the boy. His mind spun with the few fragments of his dream. It was such a weird dream yet it felt oddly real. He paused to relieve himself before proceeding to the giant fruits. Once he got there the affects of his dreams were wearing off enough for him to push it aside. He cut himself a hunk of the fruit off and ate it. Next he glanced around the forest for the right size wood that would carry them to the next island. With no such trees around he began to cut off pieces of the large trees that surrounded them with his Room. He then cut some vines up to use as ropes.

All the while Luffy continued to munch on the large fruit. When he had finally got his fill he started running around the forest, swinging from vines, flinging himself into the air with his rubber body to see how far he could go.

Law's body twitched in annoyance. "Will you stop messing around and help me?"

"But that's boring," Luffy said. "And you're doing such a good job."

"Just get over here and help me tie the wood together!" Law said. "We need to get to that other island!"

"Okay." Luffy walked over to Law. He grabbed a vine off the ground and started wrapping it around the wood.

Law whipped the sweat off his forehead. "Finally. It's done."

"How are we going to get it to the water?" Luffy asked.

"I'll use my powers or whatever they are," Law said holding up his hand. "Room."

"Wow!" Luffy cried as the blue sphere appeared around them.

"Shambles," Law said. In a blink they disappeared from the forest and reappeared back on the beach. He then warped the raft onto the water. A few seconds passed before he decided it was good enough. He warped himself and Luffy onto the raft. Picking up the two oars he made, he tossed one to Luffy. "Start rowing."

"Okay." Luffy placed the oar into the water and stroked.

Law placed his sword down on the raft and started paddling as well. Minutes passed and it didn't seem like they were growing any closer to the island. But looking back at the island they were on, he could tell that they were making progress. His eyes dropped down to the water. It was calm, a little too calm for his liking. It made him wonder what sort of dangers was lurking just below the surface. Worry pounded into his head. If he or Luffy fell overboard they were going to be dead. He could save Luffy if the young boy fell in. But Luffy couldn't save him. They had to reach the other island before something knocked them off. "Paddle faster, Straw Hat."

"I'm getting tired of paddling," Luffy said. "Can't we take a break?"  
"It's too dangerous to do that," Law said. "If something knocks us into the water we'll drown."

"But there's nothing out here," Luffy said.

The surface broke. Wave crashed against their small raft as a giant serpent with feathers around its neck rose up from below.

"Whoa!" Luffy screamed. "It's huge!"

"You idiot!" Law shouted. "I told you we needed to row faster!"

The serpent turned its brown eyes to the, a dark red tongue slithered out of its lips then back in. It opened its mouth. Two large fangs protruded from the roof of its mouth.

"Crap!" Law cursed. He held up his hand. But before he could create his sphere, Luffy's arm shot passed him. It landed on the serpent's neck. The sounds of cracking bones told him it was dead. The creature fell back into the water with a large splash, rocking their raft again.

"Yeah!" Luffy cried. "I did it!"

Law sighed. "This is just plain stupid."

"Relax, Tra," Luffy said. "We can handle anything."

"Just shut up and row," Law said. "I'd like to get to the island before another one of those appears."

"Can't we take it with us?" Luffy asked. "I bet it tastes really good barbecued."

"Is that all you think about? Food?" Law glanced back over his shoulder. He found Luffy staring back at the dead creature and drooling. "Just start paddling before I through _you_ overboard."

"Hey!" Luffy placed his paddle back into the water.

Law faced forward. He pushed his own paddle through the water. Several minutes passed before the island finally got bigger. The closer they got the more he could make out the beach. Several ships were lined up in the docks. Bright lights came from the city as well as some loud music. Then finally their raft ran aground. He tossed his paddle aside, reclaimed his sword, and jumped to the beach.

"Yahoo!" Luffy threw his arms up in the air. "We made it!"

Law huffed and headed down the beach. The noise from the city got louder the closer they got. Reaching the city limits, he scanned his eyes over the bright lights. It was some casino city they had landed in. Several golden brown people, with pointy ears, walked up and down the brightly light streets. Some were window shopping, some were dressed in elaborate costumes doing performances for whoever would stop and watch them, while others were trying to guide people into the casinos on the promises of making it rich.

"Wow! This place is amazing!" Luffy said. "We have to check it out!"

"Do you have money on you?" Law asked.

Luffy reached into his pockets. Pulling his hand back out all he had was his pockets. "Aw, man."

"Then stay away from the casinos. They can get you into a lot of trouble," Law said. "And that's the last thing I need."

"So what are we going to do?" Luffy asked.

"First of all we're going to find someone who will tell us where we are," Law said. His eyes landed on a tall blonde haired woman. She wore a sparkling red dress with a slit on each side that went up to her hips. He knew she was watching him. Her eyes sparkled with danger and lust. She reached into her dress, between her half revealed breasts, and pulled out a white cloth. He narrowed his eyebrows when she dabbed her face with it then _accidently_ dropped it. His eyes followed her bend. Her breasts clearly revealed to him in all their large, rounded glory. Then the girl from his dream flashed into his mind. Guilt leaked into his body and soul forcing him to turn away from the woman. His heart thumped rapidly in his chest. It was odd. The thought of a girl in his dream sent his heart racing yet this woman who was practically throwing himself at her he felt nothing for her, not lust or even the primal desire of satisfying his fleshly desires. He placed his hand on his chest.

Before he was able to analyze the situation he felt something under his shirt. For the first time he noticed a necklace hanging from his neck. Pulling it out he found a silver ring attacked to it. On the ring was an intricate heart shape. His eyes drifted to his chest. Small black lines were sticking out from his shirt. Pulling the neckline away he found he had a strange heart shaped tattoo on his body. The tattoo was similar to the design on the ring. He wondered what the ring meant. And wondered why he was wearing it on a necklace instead of his finger. Lost in thought he almost didn't sense the woman walking up to him. But her presence wasn't hard to miss. She was dripping with intention, sexual intention. She was trying to get with him by using her body. It wouldn't work. No matter how attractive she might actually be, he felt nothing for her. His body stiffened when he felt her presence standing right beside him.

"Well, hello there," she said, her words like honey. "I couldn't help but notice you standing here."

"I'm sure," Law said not looking at her.

"I haven't seen you before," she said. "Are you new?"

"If you'll excuse me," Law said walking forward.

"Hold on." She grabbed his arm and pressed her body up against his. "You seem a bit tense. How about you come up to my room and let me help relax you?"

Law jerked his arm free of her hold. "Leave me alone."

With a dejected hug the woman walked away from him. He tucked the ring back into his shirt for safekeeping. It might be an important clue that would lead him to what he had forgotten. Looking around for Luffy he found the boy standing near a man who had some cards spread out on a table. He walked over to him.

"Come on and pick a card," the man behind the table said. "Just one little card and you could become one of the richest men in the world!"

"Really?! That sounds awesome!" Luffy said before reaching for the cards.

"Hold it." Law grabbed Luffy back the back of his shirt and pulled his away from the table.

"Hey! I was going to pick a card!" Luffy said.

"And get us into some hot water," Law said dragging the boy down the street. "We're not here to gamble. We don't even have any money to gamble with. If you had picked a card most likely you would lose and spend the rest of your life working for that man."

"Working?! I don't want to work! I want to have fun!" Luffy said.

"Then stay away from the gambling tables," Law said. "Besides we have more important things to do."

"Right!" Luffy said. "You can let go of me now."

"Fine. But don't run off." Law released him. The two continued walking down the streets. He looked over the people, trying to figure out who would be the right person to ask, while Luffy looked over the bright lights and flashy games.

"This place looks like so much fun!" Luffy said. "We should play!"

"I already told you we don't have money to play," Law said.

"But this is boring," Luffy said. "And I'm getting tired of walking."

Law sighed. They had been walking for a long while, despite not knowing how long exactly it has been. He looked around his surrounds again before deciding he wanted to get away from all the noise for a while so he could think clearly. "Fine. Let's see if we can find a place to sit down. But away from all of the noise."

"Okay!" Luffy nodded.

Law started walking again. Down the street until the bright lights finally gave way to a normal looking neighborhood. Houses, in organic shapes, lined up were lit up buy yellow bulbs that resembled plant life. He continued on down the street, carefully eyeing the houses. Some kids were playing in a few yards, not paying them any attention. Soon a soft cinnamon smell floated through the air.

"Smells so good," Luffy said as he sniffed the air.

Law had to agree. The smell was rather appealing. He led the boy another block before a small restaurant appeared. It was a humble place. Dome shaped with tables and chairs scattered in front of a nicely kept yard decorated with small flowerbeds and a few bushes. Despite the mouth watering smells coming from the building no one appeared to be eating here. It made him wonder again what time it was.

"Yummy!" Luffy cheered as he ran over to the place.

"That idiot," Law mumbled. He followed after Luffy despite wanting to run in the opposite direction. While Luffy ran around the yard, he sat down at a table, propping his sword up on it. He then sighed heavily and started to think about their next move.

"Hello," a frail voice said.

Law turned to see an old man with a gentle smile walking over to him.

"What would you like to drink?" the old man asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Law said. "We're not here to drink or eat."

"Oh? Surely you want something to drink. It's rather warm today," the old man said.

Law didn't notice but it had grown rather warm despite there being no sun. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a few berries. "I'm afraid I don't have too much money on me."

"That's all right," the old man said. "It's on the house. I can get you something to eat as well."

"Really?!" Luffy said before running over to the table. He sat down. "I want meat!"

"Ignore him," Law said. "He's an idiot."

"No worries." The old man smiled and nodded. "I have a grandson that's full of energy like that as well. So it doesn't bother me at all. I enjoy all of the youth you young ones bring. Give me a minute and I'll bring you both something I think you'll enjoy."

"He's nice," Luffy said.

Law could only nod. He let his eyes drop down to the table while waiting on whatever the old man was going to bring them. His mind wondered back to his dream and the girl in it. Over and over again he tried to figure out who she was, why the animals were surrounding her, and why she was inside of a flower like that. He came up with nothing.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind."

Law looked up to find that the old man had several dishes of food set out on the table. "What's all this?"

"Food," the old man said. "You eat it."

"I know that." Law frowned.

The old man chuckled. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. This is our going out of business sale."

"Going out of business?" Law glanced over at the building. There hanging in the window was a going out of business sale. He wondered how he possible could have missed that.

"Why are you closing?" Luffy asked.

"With the casinos around there's no more room for small businesses like mine to survive here," the old man said. "Many have already closed. So we're packing it up and moving to another cluster."

"Cluster?" Law asked.

"It's the place we're living on. There are several in the Star Line," the old man said.

"The Star Line?" Law asked. "What's that?"

"Hm? You don't know where you are?" the old man asked.

"Afraid not," Law said. "We're both suffering from some form of amnesia."

"Oh, that's terrible," the old man said. "You are in the Star Line. It's special sea where the stars are in the sea. It's an odd phenomenon that raises many unanswered questions. Many people have debated on whether or not we're still on the planet or if we're out in space. Many different creatures live here that don't line in the New World."

"The New World?" Law mumbled. "I think I remember that place. I've been there at least."

"Me too!" Luffy said. "The name sounds familiar!"

"Of course you have," the old man said. "That's how you get to this place. There's a cave out there in the middle of nowhere. It's the gateway that brings people here. You two must have gone through it if you're here."

"The question is why are we here?" Law said.

"That I cannot tell you," the old man said. "Many come here for adventure or got pulled in here by accident or by a storm. What I can tell you is you probably have friends here somewhere as well."

"Why's that?" Luffy asked.

"Because the water path that brings you here can't be navigated by only two people," the old man said. "You need someone to steer the ship and several others to avoid the many obstacles that would have gotten in your way."

"Friends, huh?" Law asked thinking back to the girl he dreamed about. Maybe that's who she was. Maybe she was a friend of his or Luffy or both.

"We have friends?!" Luffy said. "That's cool! I wonder where they are!"

"It's hard to say if you have gotten separated from them," the old man said. "Oh, by the way, you can call me Coal."

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" Luffy said.

"Trafalgar Law," Law said.

"Nice to meet you both." Coal nodded.

"So how would we go about getting a ship to sail?" Law asked.

"Buying one is your best bet," Coal said. "But getting one can be extremely difficult."

"Why?" Luffy asked.

"Because of our current ruler," Coal said.

"Current ruler?" Law asked.

"His name is Kuro," Coal said. "He's currently the strongest in the Star Line due to having beating the previous ruler and obtaining the star scepter. I'd avoid him and his minions at all costs."

"Why? Is he that strong?" Luffy asked.

"He is." Coal nodded. "Even without the star scepter he would be a powerful opponent to fight against. Now that he as the star scepter his power has been magnified. He can control all of the starbursts."

"What's a starburst?" Luffy asked.

"They're a power that anyone can obtain by wearing a star flake on your skin. Aerolite allows its wielder to launch meteorites. Escape Velocity Star gives the user fast speed. Gamma Ray is an extremely short-wavelength and energetic electromagnetic radiation. Nova Flash is just a flash of light often used for escaping," Coal said. "And those are just a few examples. New powers seem to pop up all of the time. The star flakes can also be taken away by simply removing them. But a lot don't wear them where they can be seen by the general public."

"Could that be what we have?" Luffy asked. "We have powers, too."

"Oh? And what might those be?" Coal asked.

"I can stretch really far," Luffy said before tossing out a punch as an example. "And Tra can form some sort of sphere and cut things up where they don't bleed."

"You don't say," Coal said.

"Are they part of the star flakes?" Luffy asked.

"I don't believe so," Coal said. "The star flakes give you abilities that are related to space."

"Then what do we have?" Luffy asked.

"I believe you might have powers that come from devil fruits," Coal said. "Do you know if you get weak by going in the sea?"  
"We do!" Luffy said. "Tra had to save us both from drowning!"

"Then that's what you have," Coal said. "I've heard of them but never have seen one before. They're very rare here. Devil fruit users are also weakened by a thing called sea prism stone. Though I'm not sure if any is in the Star Line."

"Is there some place we can get more information on the devil fruits and what we might have?" Law asked.

"I'm not sure," Coal said. "Some library somewhere might have a book about them. You'd just have to look. As I said they are rare here."

"Is there anyway to find our friends?" Luffy asked.

"I'm afraid not," Coal said. "Or not that I'm aware of other than old fashion looking."

"Bummer." Luffy took a bite of fish.

"If you do find a way to set sail you best be careful," Coal said. "Kuro has many followers who won't hesitate to attack you for any given reason. And it's not always easy to know who's working for him."

"Why is that?" Luffy asked.

"Not all bear his symbol," Coal said. "I'm sure you have already past many of his followers when you walking through the city. But as long as you do nothing to upset him then there's no reason for him to attack you."

"Right!" Luffy nodded. "We'll keep that in mind!"

"What is his symbol?" Law asked.

"It's a broken star bleeding red," Coal said.

"Where's the library?" Law asked.

"You continued on down the street here then make a left and walk four blocks," Coal said. "You can't miss it. It's the largest building in that part of the neighborhood."

Law nodded. He ate some fish and something fluffy that tasted like ginger before grabbing his sword. Standing up he placed his sword over his shoulder. "We need to get going. I want to visit the library to see if they have any books on devil fruits."

"Of course." Coal nodded.

"All ready?" Luffy asked. "We just got here."

"We've been eating for about twenty minutes," Law said. "That's more than enough time to eat. So hurry up or I'm going to leave you here."

"Okay!" Luffy quickly shoveled the rest of the food in to his mouth. He swallowed, pounded his chest when it got stuck, and then finished his water. "I'm done!"

"Your table manners are deplorably," Law said before walking away. "Thanks for your services."

"Thanks, old man, for the food!" Luffy waved as he ran after Law.

"Sure thing," Coal said waving back. "Good luck to you both."

"He was a nice guy," Luffy said walking beside Law.

Law didn't bother responding to his companion. He continued on walking while looking for the library. He followed the old man's direction before coming to the dome building that was spoken of.

"Wow! This place is huge!" Luffy said.

Law ran his eyes up the side of the gray building. There were windows all around it and the very top of it was clear. Bringing his eyes back down he walked towards the door and entered. The smell of the books was the first thing that came to him. It gave him an odd feeling of nostalgia and the girl in his dream flashed back into his mind. His heart skipped a beat at the mere thought of her. He looked around. Near the door was a reception desk where a gray haired woman with round glasses perched on her tiny nose was checking someone out. In front of the reception desks were other square shape desks. A few people were scattered around them. They were of school age so that's who he assumed they were. Beyond them was an index of the books. Pushing forward he wondered over to the index and started looking for anything on devil fruits. Finding one card reading Devil Fruit, Floor Three Isle Twelve, he shoved it back in place and went to find the book. Walking up to the third floor he noticed that all of the isles were curved to fit the flow of the dome.

"This place is so weird," Luffy said.

Law didn't necessarily agree or disagree. This was just another building, hopefully with the information that he sought. A few minutes later he finally came upon the correct book. He pulled it from its place on the shelf and frowned at the cover. There was a strawberry shaped fruit with yellow spots on it. He didn't think it was what he was looking for but he still opened it. Scanning his eyes over the first few pages he found that the fruit was a poison. It could be ingest by itself or the juice could be put into something. And the reason it was called devil fruit was because when a person ingests it their stomach feels like hell fire. Flipping through a few more pages the desire to put it back on the shelf hit him then disappeared as he came to the cure for it. And that cure was to eat the ice fruit. The juice from it would cool the burning sensation and suck up all the toxins from the person's body. "Interesting."

"Tra, did you find it?" Luffy asked.

"No," Law said. "But let's keep looking around."

Luffy hummed and looked over the books. "I hate libraries."

"Just look around for anything that might be useful." Law placed the book back on the shelf and wandered through the isle. Somehow he managed to come upon the medical section of the library. They pulled at him like a magnet. He tried to resist them and focus on his real objective but then the thought of getting hurt crossed his mind. If he didn't read about that devil fruit then he never would have known it was toxic. He needed more information on this place if they were going to be sailing through it. So he gathered a stack of medical books, walked to the center of the dome, and found tables like the first floor. He sat down and spread the books out before him then started looking through them. His eyes drifted up to a notebook and a pencil lying on the table. Looking around it didn't appear the owner was near. So he pulled it to him. Opening it up he found nothing written inside, not even a name. He decided to use it. Grabbing the pencil he started to write down everything he thought would be useful. It struck him odd that he was absorbing the information so well and so quickly. But he didn't question it. This was a good thing. And he was going to get all the information that he could before they set sail. He stopped writing. He had no idea where they were going to set sail to. They still knew next to nothing about this place.


	3. Instincts

Instincts

"Aw, this place is boring," Luffy said while he wondered through the isles. I want to have some fun. Hey, Tra, where did you go?"

Luffy wondered into isle after isle in search for his friend before he made his way up to the next floor that Law was on. He found his friend sitting at a table with a ton of books spread out before him. Smiling, he walked over. "Hey! There you are! Why did you disappear like that?"  
Law continued writing.

"Hey, Tra?" Luffy asked. "What are you doing?"

Law still didn't answer.

Luffy picked up one of the books. Flipping it open he saw a diagram of a male body and several words with arrows pointing at different parts of the body. "Femur, hamstrings, ligaments…ugh! So boring! How can you read this stuff?!" He dropped the book back on the table and ran back for the stairs. "I'm going to go find something fun to do!"

With one giant leap he landed back on the ground floor. The thump of his feet on the floor echoed through the library. A harsh shush coming from the woman behind the deck made him look over to her. She said, "Sir, please, this is a library not a play ground. Keep it quite."

"Sorry." Luffy ran for the door with laughter.

"Hey! I said quite!" the woman said.

Luffy pushed the door opened. "Freedom! Now let's find something fun to do!"

Luffy ran down the sidewalk, his eyes searching for anything of interest to do. But all he saw was houses. "Aw, come on! There's got to be something fun to do around here!"

Running down a few more blocked he came to a small playground. It was void of people. He ran his eyes over the equipment. Everything appeared to be made of some kind of white stone. He walked over to a dome shape that had several holes in it. Placing his hand on it he found that the surface was smooth. "I know! I can work with my powers! Let's see…I'm rubber like. I think. And I can stretch. Surely that's enough for me to figure it out."

Luffy walked away from the dome. Pausing he thought about what he should try first. Then like a gentle voice on the wind, something told him to suck in air. So he did. He sucked in the air around him. His body started to expand. "What?!"

The air left him when he spoke. His hands flew over his now flat body. "What the heck was that?! I blew up like a…like a balloon or something!" He laughed. "That's so cool! Maybe I'm a balloon man! No! I'm a rubber man!"

He drew in his breath again. His body grew more and more round. Once he couldn't suck in any more air he started bouncing around on his feet before launching himself around the playground for a minute. Parting his lips he let the air out of his body. "That was so much fun! I wonder what would happen if I fell from the sky like that!"

Luffy threw out his hands to the monkey bars. He angled himself into the air as best he could then left his feet off the ground. The wind rushed over his face and hair. His hat fell off but caught on his neck thanks to the string around it. His body started to slow down. He waited until he was falling to draw in his breath again. Holding his lips tightly closed he waited for the ground to come closer and closer. The ground came faster and faster until he hit. Dirt flew up around him before his body sprung off in another direction. He hit the slide and then the monkey bars and several other structures before finally releasing his breath. "That was so awesome!"

He pulled back his fists and fired at the stone dome. "Gum Gum Gatlin!"

The stone rumbled, cracked, and crumbled to the ground.

"I did it! I did it!" Luffy jumped around. "Thanks to my Gum Gum Gatlin!" He jumped around for a few more seconds before pausing. "Wait a second." He dropped to the ground, crossing his ankles and arms in thought. "Gum Gum Gatlin? Where did that come from? And why did I even say it in the first place? I'm not made of gum. Gum stretches but it doesn't snap back into place. So what does? Um…rubber! I have to be a rubber man. But that doesn't answer where the Gum Gum came from. Gatlin is like a gun that fires multiple rounds."

Luffy looked up to the sky. "This really isn't fun at all. I can't remember anything but for my name still. But that whole Gum Gum thing sounds familiar. And it fits some how."

He fell back on the ground with a sigh. "I want my memories back. It's too lonely like this. Something else is missing. But what? What could it be?" He kicked and failed his arms and legs. "Aw! Come on! I need some friends! Maybe they can help me figure this out! And I'm still bored!"

Luffy sat up. "I wonder if Tra is done with those books yet. Things are more fun with him around. I should go back. It's been a long time since I left. He's probably wondering where I am."

Luffy jumped up and ran back to the library. Entering into the building he ran right up the stairs and over to the section where Law was still sitting. "Hey, Tra! Guess what?!"

Luffy tilted his head when Law didn't answer him. "Hey, Law! You won't believe what I learned about myself! I have a new attack! I call it the Gum Gum Gatlin! It's amazingly powerful! You have to come outside and see it!"

Law still didn't reply.

Luffy sighed and sat down in the chair next to his friend. "Come on. How long are you going to read those stupid books? Their boring!"

And Law still kept his eyes on the words before him.

"Fine. I'll just sleep then." Luffy sigh. He leaned back in the chair and fell asleep.

…

"Attention, patriots," a voice overhead said. "The library will be closing in ten minutes. Please clean up your work area and check out the books you'd like to take with you and make your way to the exits. We will reopen tomorrow morning. Have a pleasant evening."

Law glanced up from his writing. He had no idea that he had been studying for so long. Snoring brought his eyes to his right. There sitting next to him was Luffy. The boy was sound a sleep. Dropping his eyes back down to the notebook he found he had almost every page completely full. While he wanted to stay longer and get more information, he closed the books and shook Luffy. "Hey, Straw Hat. Let's go."

"Huh?" Luffy opened his eyes. "What?"

"The library is closing," Law said.

"About time!" Luffy jumped up. "I was so bored!"

"You didn't have to stay in here," Law said heading for the stairs.

"I didn't," Luffy said.

"What?" Law glanced back at the boy.

"I left for three hours," Luffy said. "I came back when I didn't find anything fun to do. You were still reading. So I fell asleep."

"I see." Law descended down the stairs. His had his hand loose around the notebook but his mind was on the work he did. Did he really get that absorbed into his studying that he didn't even notice Luffy was missing? He shook it from his mind. It didn't matter. At least Luffy didn't get himself into trouble. He looked back at Luffy again. "You didn't get yourself into trouble, did you?"

"Of course not," Luffy said. "I already told you there's nothing fun to do here. Oh! But I did learn new moves from my powers!"

"That's nice," Law said stepping outside. He looked up to the sky in an attempt to figure out the time but forget there was no sun. And nothing else suggested what the time might be.

"You want to see them?" Luffy asked.

"No," Law said as he continued walking.

"They're really fun!" Luffy said. "You'll like them!"

"Not now, Straw Hat," Law said.

"So what are we going to do now?" Luffy asked.

"We need to find some place to sleep," Law said. "I guess we could go back to the beach. At least we'll have some privacy there."

"Think we can catch some fish?" Luffy asked.

"Do you have a fishing pole?" Law asked.

"No," Luffy said. "But you can do your little sphere thing."

"My Room isn't for feeding you," Law said.

"You're room?" Luffy asked. "What room?"

"I'm talking about my sphere thing," Law said.

"Then why didn't you say so?" Luffy asked.

"I did," Law said.

"No you didn't," Luffy said. "You called it your room instead of your sphere."

Pressure pushed behind Law's eyes from Luffy's constant talking. "Room just sounds more normal to me. Besides whatever I do in them can't be done outside of it."

"I get it," Luffy said. "It's like how me and my attacks. It sounds normal when I call them Gum Gum then the attack name."

"What are you talking about?" Law glanced over at Luffy.

"I tried to tell you before," Luffy said. "I was working on my stretching abilities and named one of the Gum Gum Gatlin. I punched a rock or something and it shattered into rubble."

"That's nice," Law said.

"I also blew up like a balloon by sucking in my breath," Luffy said. "Want to see it?"

"No," Law said.

"I need a name for it, too," Luffy said. "Any ideas?"

"No," Law repeated.

"Gum Gum Ball? No that's not right," Luffy said crossing his arms. "Gum Gum Bubble? Yuck! That's even worse!"

"Don't strain yourself, Straw Hat," Law said.

"I know! I can call it Gum Gum Balloon!" Luffy said just before a loud explosion went off. The ground rumbled and shook under their feet throwing them off balance a bit. "What was that?"  
"Looks like there's some kind of issue going on in the city." Law looked over towards the city to see a thick black cloud of smoke rising into the sky.

"Wow! Let's go check it out!" Luffy took off for the city.

"Wait, Straw Hat!" Law cried out. But it was too late. Luffy was already far enough away from him that he didn't hear him. He took after him. "That idiot! He's going to get himself killed!"

The city grew bigger the closer he got to it. More explosions went off as people rushed from the city. Law dodged a few people who almost ran into him but he managed to make it to the city in time to see Luffy throwing several punches at a falling piece of a building, saving a small group of people from being squashed by it. He scanned his eyes around the city in an attempt to locate what caused this mess. He figured he found it when he saw some people fighting. His eyebrows drew together when he saw a couple of the men had some kind of an electric charge around their weapons. One guy's sword was crackling with the electricity. He swung the blade and said something. The electricity shot though the air like arrows. A couple landed in the wall of a near by building while two stuck into the bodies of two people trying to get away from the fight. Their voices cried out from the shock that ran through their bodies. Law didn't have to continue to watch them. The smell of burnt skin filled the air amongst the smoke and gunpowder. The two unfortunate people were dead. He snapped his hand out and grabbed a man as he ran by. "What's going on here?"  
"Two pirate crews arrived and they're fighting each other!" the man said. "You had better run! Most of them are wielding star flakes! Normal people have no chance against them! Run!"

The man wiggled from his hold and ran off. Law turned his eyes back to the fight. A low growl came from his throat when he saw Luffy was right in the middle of the fight. "That idiot. What does he think he's doing? Is he trying to get killed?"

"I don't know who you are but you are doing to die!"

Law looked up to see a large man, about ten feet tall wielding a large mallet hammer, coming right at him.

"So die!" the man shouted.

Law grabbed his sword. Pulling it from the sheath he sliced the head of the mallet hammer in half.

"Huh?" The man pulled back and looked at his broken mallet hammer.

"Room!" Law held out his hand. The blue sphere spread out around them. "You should never take your eyes off an enemy." He sliced the man's body up.

"Ah! What did you do to me?! I'm going to die!" the man shouted. "Huh? Wait a second…I'm not dead. What did you do to me?!"

"That idiot. Where did he go now?" Law looked to find Luffy was missing. He took off to find him. He glanced around as he ran to avoid being hit but also to take in the fight. There were a lot of strange moves being preformed. One guy waved his hand and several pieces of debris from the collapsed buildings lifted up and flew at others, knocking them down. One guy lifted a group of people up with just a wave of his hand. Another was using the electrical attack he saw before only he was using a whip. The electricity was running down the whip and the man was snapping it at people. "This place is insane!"

Luffy's laughed brought his eyes up. The young man was still in the middle of the fight. And he was distracted by what he was doing he didn't see a man coming up behind him with an electrical attack charging on his fingers. Law picked up his speed. His heart raced in his chest. No matter how annoying he thought Luffy was something told him to not let the boy die. The man reached for Luffy. "Straw Hat! Get out of there!"

"Huh?" Luffy turned in Law's direction then noticed the man behind him. But it was far too late. The man reached out and grabbed Luffy's arm.

Law lifted his sword to kill the man but paused when he noticed Luffy wasn't hurt at all.

Luffy laughed again.

"What the heck are you made of?!" the man asked.

"Rubber! Apparently. Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy punched the man in the face. "Hey, Law! I got another attack! It was amazing!"

"You're an idiot," Law said. "You could have gotten yourself killed from being so reckless. Why did you even come here in the first place?"  
"I don't know," Luffy said. "I just came to see what was going on. Next think I knew someone was trying to kill me."

"So naturally instead of just defending yourself and running away you continued on fighting," Law said.

"How did you know?" Luffy tilted his head.

"Let's just get out of here before you get us both killed," Law said.

"Okay!" The two started running towards the beach. Suddenly their bodies lifted up off the ground. "Hey! What's going on?!"

"You two aren't going anywhere!" The two turned to find a man welding a club with four-inch spikes walking up to them. He wore only a pair of pants so all of his scars were revealed to them, including the one over his right eye that clearly blinded it. "I don't take very kindly to people who hurt my crewmates. And you both did just that."

"Your crewmates attacked us first," Law said.

"Doesn't matter," he said. "You're going to pay."

"What did you do to us?" Luffy asked while making swimming motions in the air. "Why can't we move?"

"I used my Gravitation Erase attack to delete the gravity around you," he said. "It's one of my star flake powers."

"Star flake powers? Now why does that sound familiar?" Luffy asked.

"Maybe because we were just told about them today," Law said feeling another headache coming on. "Don't you pay attention to anything?"

"I do when it's important," Luffy said.

"That is important!" Law snapped. "So remember it!"

"Okay!" Luffy said smiling.

"You two argue like my parent use to," he said with a swing of his club. "But it doesn't matter. You're going to die now."

Law gritted his teeth and spread out his Room. Just as the guy swung his club at them, he cut off the man's arm and moved it onto a piece of debris were it stuck.

"Wow! That was awesome!" Luffy said. "How did you do that?!"

"I'm not sure," Law said. "It just happened."

"Huh? How is it possible I'm not bleeding?" the man asked. "Do you have a star flake power, too? No, it can't be that. No one has ever used such a power in the star flakes." He shook his head. "No matter. You're still going to die. Aerolite."

"He's glowing!" Luffy shouted when the man started to glow.

The man held out his hand to Luffy and Law. Small dark spots appeared in the glow around his hand before getting bigger and shooting out at them.

"Ouch!" Luffy grabbed his forehead when one hit him. "That hurt!"

Law swiped his sword at the ones flying at him. He sliced them all in half until his sword suddenly flew out of his hand.

"Gravitational Pull," the man said. Law sword landed in his hand. The second the hilt was in his hand the man screamed out. "It hurts! What's this stupid sword doing to me?!"

"You idiot!" Another man ran over and kicked the sword from the first man's hand. "How stupid can you be?! That's a cursed sword! You can't wield it!"

"How was I supposed to know?" The man rubbed his sore hand.

"Let's just kill them already. The captain wants to get out of here soon." The two men turned back to Law and Luffy, their bodies glowing and their eyes smiling with blood lust.

"Shambles," Law said. He and Luffy disappeared then reappeared behind the two men. Just as the two men turned around they threw a punch at them. The men went sailing and landed in a pile of debris.

"Yeah!" Luffy said. "Take that!"

"Now let's get out of here." Law picked up his sword, turned, and ran towards the beach. As they ran they spotted an old man wearing an apron get a shot in the stomach. Blood spurted out of the wound as he fell to the ground. Four others, carrying swords or spears, stepped up to him.

"Hey!" Luffy ran towards them.

"Straw Hat! What are you doing?!" Law demanded.

"I have to help him! That old man can't defend himself!" Luffy called back over his shoulder.

"This isn't our fight!" Law followed him.

"Gum Gum Gatlin!" Luffy threw out his fists, knocking the men away. "Jerks! He can't even defend himself!" He knelt down next to the man. "You okay, old man?"

The old man coughed, blood splattered over his skin.

"Tra! You have to help him! He's going to die!" Luffy said.

"What? I don't have to help him," Law said. "You don't even know him."

"So what? You read all those medical books. So you can help him," Luffy said.

"Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?" Law asked.

"B-behind you!" the old man yelled.

Law turned to find several rocks hurling at them. He sliced them with his sword then sent them flying back towards the men who threw them in the first place. The rocks hit the men and the ground causing more damage to the city.

"Now you have to save him!" Luffy said.

"I do not!" Law said.

"He saved our lives!" Luffy said.

"We would have been fine!" Law said.

"Just help him!" Luffy said. "We own him that much! At least stop the bleeding!"

Law growled. With the feeling he wasn't going to get out of here without helping this guy, he knelt down and glanced over the man's wounded body. The blood gushed out of the wound. He needed to do something or the man would die. But he needed equipment to work with. "The bullet's in rather deep. I can removed it but I can't sew up the damage without the proper equipment."

"Then bring him to my ship."

The two looked up to see a bald man with thick black eyebrows walking over to them. "This battle is about over. Monty there is on my crew. He's my cook."

"You're a pirate?" Luffy asked.

"We are." The man nodded. "The name's Captain Lapis Laden."

"So you're the ones who started this fight," Law said.

The man laughed. "If only. But it was the other crew who started the fight. We were here for a peaceful mission to check things out. They attacked thinking they could take our heads and gain more popularity and higher bounties."

"So awesome!" Luffy said. "I want to be a pirate!"

Laden eyed Luffy. "You're kind of on the puny side to be a pirate, kid."

"I'm not! I'm a great fighter! And I'm made of rubber! See?" Luffy pulled his cheek away from his face.

"Ah, so you are a devil fruit user," Laden said.

"I don't have a clue," Luffy said.

"I noticed what you did for Monty," Laden said. "You have my thanks."

"No problem," Luffy said. "Tra here is going to fix him right up, too."

"I am not!" Law said.

"Then we better get back to the ship," Laden said. "I have a fine medical bay." He turned away from them. "Razor! Come carry Monty back to the ship! He's hurt bad!"

A man standing seven foot with broad shoulders and a three-day-old beard came walking over to him. He picked up the old man and headed towards the docks without a glance at the two new people standing with his captain.

"Let's go," Laden said.

"Come on!" Luffy grabbed Law's collar and ran towards the ship.

"Let me go!" Law demanded.

But Luffy didn't. He just continued running towards the docks. He only released Law when they stopped at the gangplank. He gawked up at the large ship. It was so big that it had three masts, the foremast near the front, the mainmast in the middle of the deck, and the mizzenmast near the back. "Wow! It's so huge!"

"Hurry up," Laden said from the top of the gangplank.

Law grumbled as he wandered up the gangplank as Luffy ran up it. On the deck he looked around. The ship looked to have three floors below the deck and two more floors above the deck. Towards the front of the ship was only one floor with a single door in the middle. He wondered if that was the captain's quarters. Turning his eyes to the right was two sets of stairs that led up to the two upper levels. On the very top was the helm.

"This way," Laden said.

Law turned his eyes back to the captain of this ship. Laden was going up the stairs to the first level he had looked at. The man then went to his left and around the corner, Razor was right behind him. Law quickly followed after tossing Luffy a look. The rubber boy was running all over the ship, gushing at how _awesome_ it was. Once on the upper level he turned the corner to find another door. It was open so he walked inside. Antiseptics hit him upon entering. It was the medical bay. Six beds lined up at the foremost front of the room. Just opposite of it was the operation area. Razor already had Monty laying on the operating table.

"Once the crew returns tell them to wait outside. But tell Makoto to come inside when she gets here," Laden order. "I'll inform you all of any change that happens."

Razor nodded and left the room.

"Well, you're up, doctor," Laden said. "Let's see what you can do. Makoto is a nurse. She'll be here any second. She'll assist you."

Law frowned, wondering how he managed to let Luffy pull him into this mess. Still he walked over to the medical supplies and gathered up what he needed before stepping over to the sink in the corner. He placed his sword in the corner then washed up his hand, lathering them as well as he could, and then pulled on some rubber gloves. Just then the door opened and closed. He looked over to see a five foot five, short reddish orange hair, and matching eyes woman walking over to him.

"About time you got here, Makoto," Laden said.

"Shove it," Makoto said. "I was finishing up things in the city. One of the enemy decided he wanted to get fresh with me." She smirked devilishly. "At least he won't be able to reproduce now."

A shiver ran up Law's spine. This woman was a vicious monster apparently.

"So who's the newbie?" Makoto jerked her chin towards Law.

"He's a doctor," Laden said. "He's going to help Monty. I want you to assist him."

"Lucky me." Makoto ran her eyes over Law. "At least he's cute."

"Just scrub up and get ready to assist me," Law said walking over to Monty.

"Whatever you say, Doctor," Makoto said.

Law leaned over Monty's wound and inspected it. "Hurry up. I'm going to have to open his wound up more. He's losing a lot of blood."

"I know," Makoto said. She turned off the water, dried her hands, put on some gloves, and then carried the tray of surgical tools over to him and placed it down on a trolley. "Here you go."

"Put him under," Law said.

"Whatever you say," Makoto said.

Law exhaled and waited for the man to be put under. Once the man's breathing slowed down he picked up the scalpel and cut the wound opening more. An hour passed before he managed to sew up every bleeder he found inside of the man. Finally, he sewed up the man's skin. "There. It's done."

"Wonderful," Laden said.

"Not bad," Makoto said. "You have some amazing surgical skills."

Law stepped over to the sink. He threw away the blood gloves then washed his hands. His brain was going over the surgery he had just preformed. It shouldn't have been possible. But it was. He knew exactly what to do. He was a doctor, or something. He shut the water off and turned back to them. "He'll need at least two weeks of rest before doing anything extreme. That means no fighting."

Laden chuckled. "Sounds like you're trying to take over my position as captain."

"I have no reason to do that," Law said.

"I wouldn't mind," Makoto said, her eyes running over Law's body again.

"Don't do that," Law said. "My body is not here for you to ogle."

"And he's feisty, too," Makoto said.

"That will be enough, Makoto," Laden said. "You have a job to do."

"Aye, Captain," Makoto said. "I know my duty. Monty will be taken care of. Though he's not going to be happy about having to rest. You know how obsessed with cooking he is."

"He'll get over it," Laden said.

Makoto stepped over to the sink. She pulled out a basin from one of the cabinets and filled it with hot water. She then grabbed a couple washcloths and walked back over to Monty to clean the blood off of him. "He's going to be even more upset when he learns that his favorite apron is completely ruined."

"Again, he'll get over it," Laden said. "Besides he has about three hundred more that look exactly the same."

"Is he really up that high?" Makoto asked. "He's nuts. I don't even have that many shoes. And I love my shoes."

"You did an amazing job, Tra," Laden said.

"Trafalgar," Law said. "Only that idiot out on your deck calls me Tra."

"Trafalgar it is then," Laden said. "As I was saying, you're skills are amazing. Even better than my previous doctor."

"Your previous doctor?" Law asked.

"Yes." Laden nodded. "My crew's doctor died in a battle a few months ago. I've been on the search for a new one since then. And you have the skills. And that rubber friend of yours has some amazing fighting skills as well. Why don't you and your friend join my crew?"

"Sorry, but we must decline," Law said.

"Oh? That was a quick decision. What for?" Laden asked.

"We have…" Law paused. He wondered if he should tell this man what their problem is. There clearly were some benefits of sailing with pirates. One at the top of the list is how they know about this sea and the powers that people use. Another would be they could sail around the sea without restrictions. But still no matter how much he tried to justify this he still didn't trust this guy. At least he caught a glimpse of this man's powers. He was fairly confident that he could take the captain down if it was necessary. "The truth is we've lost just about all of our memories. We're on a mission to find what they are."

"I see," Laden said. "Well, I don't know nothing about lost memories but I do know skill when I see it. And you two have the skills to make great pirates."

Familiarity of the words hit Law again. It pushed him more towards making the decision to go with this crew.

"So what do you say?" Laden held out his hand to Law.

Law stared down at the man's outstretched hand. A few seconds passed before he found himself reaching for it. His skin connected with Laden's. The man's hands were rough from callouses and work from the hard work that he clearly has done. "Fine. We'll sail with you."

"Welcome aboard then, Trafalgar Law," Laden said. "I'll go spread the word to the crew."

Law nodded. He watched as the captain walked away before turning back to the man on the table. He hoped he was making the right decision. If he was careful he and Luffy should be able to take over this ship and sail out on their own. He just had to wait for the right moment.

"Tra!" Luffy came busting into the room. "Is it true?! Did you, did we really join this crew?!"

"Keep it down, Straw Hat," Law said. He grabbed the young man by the arm and pulled him away from Makoto to the other side of the room. He lowered his voice and added, "I have no intention of joining this crew."

"But I thought that…" Luffy started.

"I don't care what Laden said," Law said. "This is our way to get our own ship. We should be able to handle this crew well enough when the time comes."

"You mean we're starting our own crew?!" Luffy asked with a big grin.

"Don't be stupid," Law said. "We need this ship to figure out how to get our memories back. Laden and his crew are just a means to do that. So don't go telling them about my plan."

"Right!" Luffy nodded. "I won't say a word."

Law gave Luffy a skeptical look but decided that the young man wouldn't betray him. How he knew that he didn't have a clue. He just knew he could trust Luffy with his plan. It had to be his instincts telling him this was going to be fine.


	4. Setting Sail

Setting Sail

"Well, he's all cleaned up," Makoto said. She walked closer to Luffy and Law. Her eyes locked onto Law's. "Is there anything else you'd like me to do, Doctor?"

"Just keep an eye on him for a while," Law said. "And get him to a more comfortable bed."

"Will do." Makoto took a stepped closer to him. Lifting her hand she drug a long nail over his arm. "But I'd much rather show you to a more comfortable bed."

Law stepped away. "Pay attention to the patient."

"Monty will survive." Makoto frowned. "He's been hit a lot worse than this before. And if you're really going to be on our crew you'll need someone to show you around. Luckily, I'm up for the task. And I'll be more than happy to show you to the crew's quarters. I have my own room being the only woman on the ship."

"That'll be enough, Makoto," Laden said.

"Captain," Makoto said turning her eyes to the man standing near the door. "Why must you always sneak around like that?"

"I didn't sneak at all," Laden said. "I opened the door like I always do and stepped inside." He looked at Law and Luffy. "You'll have to excuse my little vixen. Men are often her prey."

"I've noticed," Law said.

"If you two will come with me, I'll show you around the ship," Laden said.

"Yahoo!" Luffy ran towards the door.

Law followed him at a slower pace. He grabbed his sword on the way out and placed it back on his shoulder. The weather seemed to have gotten cooler as they stepped back out onto the deck. They walked back the way they came and stopped when Laden opened the first door that Law had seen.

"This is the doctor's quarters," Laden said as he stepped into the room.

Luffy went in next.

Law then followed. Looking around the room he found it was almost wall-to-wall of bookshelves stuffed full of books and notebooks. A desk, also clutter with books, was sitting under the porthole on his right. The bed was shoved in the back left corner with a couple books spread out on the cover.

"So many books," Luffy said.

"He had a love of reading any medical journal he could get his hands on," Laden said. "A lot of them most likely will be useless to you. Like the books on women pregnancy."

"You have a woman on your crew," Law said.

"Makoto has some medical issues that don't allow her to get pregnant," Laden said. "Despite that we have had other women crewmembers who have gotten pregnant. But they are immediately dismissed. No pregnant woman is allowed on this ship. They get in the way too much. Having them here is too much of a rick for both them and their baby and the crew. As I'm sure a man of medicine you can agree."

"Understood," Law said. He said it but for some reason he didn't believe it.

"So do I sleep here as well?" Luffy asked.

"You will be sleeping down with the rest of the crew," Laden said.

"Aw! How come Tra get's his own room?" Luffy asked.

"Because that's how this ship works," Laden said heading back out the door. "A doctor can't get much work done if the crew is being noisy. So it made sense to let the doctor of the crew have his own room. Besides he'll need to be close to the medical bay if any of the wounded need his attention."

"Well thought out layout of the ship," Law said. "Did you commission it yourself?"

"Indeed I did," Laden said walking down the stairs. He pointed to the level right across from them. "That's my quarters. I wanted my room close to the deck so I could hear if someone comes aboard. I'm a light sleep you know. I also wanted to be close to the helm. On the backside of it is the navigation room. Razor doesn't like anyone going in there so steer clear unless he has given you permission to enter."

"So where's the kitchen?" Luffy asked.

"And here's how you get below," Laden said as he stood near an opening in the deck near the mast. He descended down the stairs. "This floor is where the galley, the crew's quarters, and the washrooms are. I have over fifty rooms on this floor for the crew's bedrooms." He stepped over and opened one of the doors. "Most bunk up with one or two while a couple chose to have a room of their own. My crew has a total of a hundred members so we clearly have plenty of room. Everyone on the ship is required to keep it nice and clean. And there will be no exceptions. That means you two will have to clean."

Law and Luffy peaked inside. The room had two sets of bunk beds built into the wall with four closets. Law asked, "Are all the rooms set up like this?"  
"The bedrooms are," Laden said.

"So boring," Luffy said. "I'd rather steer the ship."

"You're not allowed," Laden said. "You're just part of the crew who will do as they are ordered."

"That's no fun," Luffy said frowning.

"Just be quiet, Straw Hat," Law said.

Laden lead them on down another set of stairs. "This floor is where the brig and several storage rooms are held. Most of the time we don't have prisoners. But when we do they'll be right in here."

Law sniffed the air finding it void of dirt and dust. The captain here really did keep a clean ship. He was impressed but refused to say so.

"And that's pretty much it," Laden said.

"But what about your treasure?" Luffy asked. "You're pirates so you should have treasure."

"Indeed we do," Laden said. "That's on the last floor down. But there's no need to go on down there. Nothing of importance to see really."

Law's eyebrows drew together. Laden's nonchalant of the treasure room didn't sit right with him. He was going to have to check the floor out himself at some point. That would be best once the crew was asleep. He should be able to get into those rooms easily with his powers.

"Captain, we're ready to set sail," a voice said from the floor above them.

"All right," Laden said. "Well, that does it for the tour. There's not much else to see. You'll get in the swing of things in the next few days."  
"Yeah!" Luffy cheered. He ran up the stairs. "Let's go!"

Law sighed.

"He's so full of energy," Laden said.

"I'd like to take some of that energy out of him," Law said. He frown when all Laden did was laugh and head up the stairs. With a shrug he headed up the stairs. The crew was working in tandem. They lifted the large anchor, unfurled the sails, and made sure all everything with the ship was ready to sail. Within a few minutes the ship was pulling away from the cluster. He walked to the edge of the ship, leaned over a bit, and looked towards the horizon. He had no clue where they were sailing. Suddenly, the surface of the water was breech. His body jerked back when giant seahorses lifted into the air. They're scales shimmered from the water dripping off of them. Their fins looked more like wings to him as they moved through the air.

"Wow!" Luffy exclaimed. "They're so huge!"

"Are they dangerous?" Law asked. He looked up to see Luffy was leaning over the edge of the crow's nest.

"Only if you provoke them or get between them and one of their offspring," Laden said from the helm. "Most of the time they're very friendly. I've even heard tales of some sailors who have ridden them."

"What?! Really?!" Luffy asked before throwing out his hand. He grabbed one and swung up on it.

"Straw Hat! What do you think you're doing?!" Law demanded.

"I'm riding a seahorse!" Luffy called back. "It's so fun!"

"That idiot!" Law said.

Laden laughed. "Well, I guess the rumors were true. And he's going to be a handful, isn't he?"

"More like a constant headache," Law said.

"No worries," Laden said. "Sometimes the younger fellows can be reckless, but they always settle down after a while."

"I wouldn't count on him settling down at all," Law said. "And expect him to give you a lot of headaches."

"Been with him for a long time, have ya?" Laden asked.

"Not sure but it feels like a lifetime," Law said.

"That reminds me," Laden said. "You might find some books about memory loss in your room. They might not help much but they're there if you want to look through them."

"I might do that," Law said. He headed up the stairs and stood beside the captain. "By the way, how is it possible those seahorses are flying?"

"Not really sure," Laden said. "An old sea tale says that the creatures here evolved from the unique sea. As I'm sure you noticed it's different from any other water."

"Right, the sea." Law walked back over to the side of the ship. His eyes observed the dark star covered water. He wondered if they would find anyone who could give them a logical explanation, or a guess, as to why the water looked like it did. He also wondered if it was that dark under the surface. "Hey, is the whole entire sea like that or is it clear once you dive under the surface?"

"It's oddly clear when you go under," Laden said.

"I see," Law said. He looked back to Luffy. The seahorses were getting farther away from them. "Hey, Straw Hat! You better get back here for they dive under the water and you drown!"

"Oh! Right!" Luffy threw his arm back to the ship. He grabbed onto the crow's nest and retook his spot he was at before. "Hey, Tra! You should come up here! The view is amazing!"

"No thank you," Law said. "I'd rather stay right here."

"What?! Why?!" Luffy said. "Come on up here!"

"No thanks. I'll stay right he-" Law was cut off by Luffy's hand landing on his shoulder. His body then hurled through the air. Everything turned upside down before the air in his lungs vanished when his back hit the floor of the crow's nest. "Straw Hat! You're going to pay for that!"

"Sorry." Luffy laughed.

Law picked himself up and adjusted his hat. The temptation to slice Luffy's head off was great, but he picked up his sword, turned away from the young man, and watched the horizon. It seemed to be shrouded in mysteries. Yet somewhere out there were the answers to who they really are and where they had came from. And so were his answers to whom that girl was who spoke to him.

"Wow! This is so cool!" Luffy said leaning over the edge with his arms spread out wide. "Yahoo!"

"If you fall overboard I'm not going to rescue you," Law said.

"Of course you will if I need your help," Luffy said. "But I can save myself with my Gum Gum stretchy powers thing."

"Nice title," Law said. He stayed up in the crow's nest for ten more minutes before warping himself back down to the deck. Looking around he found the pirates were scattered doing their own thing. So he walked over to the wall, sat down, and let the brim of his hat drop over his eyes for a nap.

 _Law stood staring at her. The girl was standing beside a large white flower. She was looking up at the sky so he wasn't sure if she knew that he was there. But she did seem him. She glanced over in his direction; some form of blur hid her face from him. Her delicate hand lifted up, reaching for him to come to her. He did. He walked over to her without hesitation and placed his hand in hers. Her hands were soft and looked very small next to his. "Who are you?"_

 _"I am you," she said._

 _"What does that mean?" Law asked._

 _She stepped closer to him._

 _He noticed she was a whole head shorter than he was. The top of her head came to his chin. Without thinking he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to his body. His heart skittered. His stomach turned into a flock of butterflies. "Where are you? Where can I find you? I need to see you."_

 _"I don't know where I am," she said. "But we will find each other."_

 _"But how?" Law asked. "I don't even know who you are. I don't even know who I am."_

 _"Keep going," she said. "Just keep going. We will find each other."_

 _"What does that mean?" Law asked. She started to fade away from him. "Wait! Where are you going?"  
"I don't know," she said just before completely vanishing from his sight. The world around him went dark and cold. Glowing red eyes with yellow irises stared back at him. In the darkness it smiled, showing its pearly white teeth. "Who are you?!"_

 _It's smile only got bigger._

 _"Are you holding her hostage?!" Law demanded. "If you hurt her so help me I will kill you!"_

 _Deep laughter broke out from the smile before it too vanished before him._

Law woke with a startled gasp. Sweat ran down his forehead and cheeks. He placed a hand on his face. "That girl again. That's the second time…"

"You okay, Tra?"

Law looked up to find Luffy squatting in front of him with a concerned look on his face. Looking past him he saw several of the crew were also staring at him. "What?"  
The crew looked away from him and continued talking amongst themselves.

"You were talking in your sleep," Luffy said.

"I was?" Law asked.

"You were saying something about killing someone," Luffy said. "What were you dreaming about?"  
"Nothing important," Law said. "It was just a strange dream."

"Okay then," Luffy said. "You're the doctor."

Law frowned at him.

"You really shouldn't be up yet!" Makoto yelled.

Law and Luffy looked up towards the upper deck to see Monty was coming down the stairs with Makoto following.

"You just got shot in the stomach for crying out loud!" Makoto said.

"Hush, brat," Monty said. "This little scratch is nothing. I have a job to do here."

"You can't do that job if you're dead!" Makoto said. "So go back in that room and get some rest! And don't call me brat!"

"I'll call you that all I want to, brat," Monty said. The man's limp was more noticeable when he reached the deck. Some of the crew cheered and welcomed him back but didn't move from where they were sitting. "'cuz that is exactly what you are."

"And you're an old geezer who needs to just die already!" Makoto stomped down each step. "And that's exactly what's going to happen if you don't get some rest! Why don't you ever listen?! Seriously! It's a wonder that you're not dead yet!"

Monty's eyes landed on Law and Luffy. "I heard we got some new crewmates. Which one of you is the doctor?"

"He is." Luffy pointed at Law.

"You, huh?" Monty eyed Law. "Kind of young for a doctor, ain't cha?"

"No," Law said despite not remembering how old he was.

"Such an embarrassment being saved by a snot nosed brat." Monty shook his head then laughed. He winced at the pain in his stomach. He stopped laughing and grabbed his stomach. "Ouch."

"See? You're not ready to get up." Makoto crossed her arms and leaned against the mast. "Get back into bed."

"Hush, brat," Monty said. "Anyway, I do thank you for saving my life. If it wasn't for you I would surely be dead."

"Just go back and lie down," Law said. "You're going to kill yourself."

"That's what I just said," Makoto said.

"I'm just fine," Monty said. "I have a lot of work to do on this ship. I'm the cook you know."

"So what's for dinner?" Luffy asked. "Something good I hope!"

Monty chuckled. "A hungry one, eh? Don't worry, sonny, I'll cook you up something good."

"Monty!" Everyone turned their eyes to the captain as he walked down to the deck. "It's good to see you up!"

"That it is," Monty said. "I assume the mission went as expected?"

"Indeed it did." Laden hugged Monty.

"Captain, tell him to go lie back down," Makoto said. "He's going to kill himself."

"I thought that's what you wanted, brat." Monty smirked.

"Monty knows his body best," Laden said. "If he wants to be up then he can be up."

"Fine!" Makoto, throwing her hands in the air, stomped back towards the medical bay. "Then don't come crying to me when your favorite cook drops dead in his stew! I'll just say I told you so! And serves you both right!"

"Gotta love that little spitfire brat," Monty said with a light chuckle.

"So when are you going to start cooking?" Luffy asked.

"Impatient one," Monty said. "The name's Monty."

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" Luffy grinned.

"Trafalgar Law," Law said.

"Nice to meet you both. And welcome to the crew," Monty said.

"Thanks! It's great to be here! This is so exciting!" Luffy said.

Law huffed and wondered if Luffy forgot their plan or if it was just this stupid. He decided it didn't matter. As long as Luffy didn't reveal his plan to anything it would be fine. And maybe with Luffy excited about sailing the younger man wouldn't bother him as much.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have some food to prepare," Monty said before descending down to the next level of the ship.

"I'm coming too!" Luffy said. He followed Monty but paused on the stairs. "Are you coming, Tra?"  
"No." Law stood up and headed for his room. "I'm going to do some studying on memories loss."

"Sounds boring, but okay! See you later!" Luffy continued on down the stairs.

"Need some help?" Makoto asked just before Law got one boot on the stairs.

Law looked up to find Makoto draped on the railing in a ridiculously seductive manner. She had apparently changed clothes at some point and was wearing a short skirt with the side obviously ripped on purpose to show more of her thigh. He continued up the stairs and brushed past her. "No."

"You're no fun," Makoto said. "I could help you. I helped the previous doctor before."

Law opened the door and slammed it behind him without giving her another glance. After a few minutes of scanning the books he plucked two off the shelves and sat down at the desk. He placed his hat beside the books, his sword against the wall, and started reading.

…

"Wow!" Luffy exclaimed upon walking into the kitchen. Several triangular tables were lined up in the large room. In the backside of the room there was an L shape counter tops, including a stove, several cabinets, and a large refrigerator. In the middle of the kitchen was a square fire pit with a vent above it for smoke to escape from. "This place is huge!"

"Has to be to accommodate a crew of our size," Monty said pulling a large pot out of the corner of the room. He placed the handle in the hook over the pit then moved over to the fridge.

"So what are you making?" Luffy asked. "I hope its meat."

"You like meat, eh?" A wave of cool air rushed through the room when Monty opened the fridge.

"I love it!" Luffy said. "Or I think I do. I ate a lot of it when we caught that one fish before. And it tasted really good."

"Well, you might have a thing for meat then," Monty said pulling out a large piece of fish. "Your memories might be gone but your stomach and taste buds are still around."

"You making fish?" Luffy asked moving into the kitchen.

"A fish stew," Monty said placing the fish on the counter. "You'll love it."

"As long as it had a lot of meat in it," Luffy said reaching for the fish.

"It'll have plenty of meat I assure you," Monty said. He slapped Luffy's hand away. "Now don't bother the fish. No one can eat anything until it's all done."

"Can't I have a snack?" Luffy asked.

"No, you may not," Monty said. "We eat only when all of the food is prepared and everyone is ready to eat. And no snacking without my permission."

"What?!" Luffy gasped. "No snacks?!"

"We have to save all the food we can," Monty said. Pulling a knife from a drawer he started cutting through the fish. "And that means I have strict control and very strict rules over how much people eat."

"You can't be serious!" Luffy said. "What if I get hungry between meals?!"

"Are you hard of hearing? I said no snacking without my permission," Monty said. "I allow the crew to eat the right amount of food required for their height and weight. If I just let them help themselves to the food in here then we'd never have anything to eat. And don't think you can sneak in here during the night. My cabinets and the fridge have locks on them."

"Hm?" Luffy looked around. Several cabinets, a panty, and the fridge all had locks on them. "What?! Why are there locks on the food?!"

"You're a dense one, ain't ya?" Monty asked. "I assure you that my meals give everyone the correct amount of nutrition that a man needs. And you and your friend will be no different. Now you are permitted to buy food of your own and keep it in your room, but the food in here isn't for your taking when you feel like it."

"That sucks," Luffy said. "And your captain allows this?"

"He has approved of this," Monty said. "It's been like that since we've been sailing the seas. And that's been several years."

"So boring!" Luffy ran towards the door and back up to the deck. He looked around at everyone. They all were gathered in groups of three or more. He walked over to a group that had cards scattered between them. "Hey, what you doing?"

"Playin' poker," one said. "What does it look like?"

"Oh," Luffy said. "Can I play?"

"You got any money?" The man looked up at him.

"No," Luffy said. "And Law said I couldn't gamble because of that."

"Then leave us alone." The man turned his eyes back to his cards."

Luffy turned from them and looked over the crew again. Finding them uninteresting he headed up towards Law's room and entered into it. "Hey, Tra?!"

Law sat at his desk and didn't reply.

Luffy walked around the room before pausing behind Law. "So have you found anything of interest yet?"

"No, not yet," Law said. "This book is about head injuries. I highly doubt that's what's caused our memory loss. We don't have any kind of head injury."

"Hm." Luffy hummed. "So what was your dream about?"

"Why?" Law asked.

"Just asking," Luffy said. "You seemed rather shaken by it."

"It was nothing important," Law said. Part of him wanted to tell Luffy about it. But he remained quiet.

"So when do you think you'll put your plan into action?" Luffy asked.

Law's eyebrows rose. So Luffy did remember his plan. "I'm not really sure. We'll just wait and see what happens. While we've seen some of this crew in action we still don't know what they are capable of. If we get lucky we'll spend some time in a fight, whether from an enemy or within the crew. That way we'll see more of what they can do."

"Or we could just steal the ship from them," Luffy said. "Like when they're on an island or something."

"That's also a possibility," Law said. "But like the other plan, we'll still need to know what the crew can do. I doubt Laden will leave his ship unguarded at any point in time. And with how that one person was able to life us off the ground…if it wasn't for my powers, or whatever, we would have been killed right then and there."

"I see," Luffy said. "You think others who have abilities like that?"

"It's possible," Law said. "That's why we need more information on this crew." He looked up at Luffy. "Besides, even if we got this ship immediately, it's not like we know where to take it."

Luffy hummed before smiling. "It doesn't matter. We can just sail around until we get lucky and find someone who knows what's going on."

"I doubt it'll work that way," Law said. "Is that all you wanted?"

"No," Luffy said. "I just came up from the kitchen."

"And?" Law probed though he figured he wouldn't like the answer.

"That crazy cook doesn't allow snacking!" Luffy said. "It's terrible! We're only allowed to eat when he says we can!"

"What?" Law asked.

"It's true!" Luffy nodded. "How am I going to survive if I can't eat?!"

"You won't die if you're getting three meals a day," Law said.

"But that's not enough!" Luffy said.

"Then you'll just have to catch some fish and eat that," Law said. "Does he have anyone laws against that?"

"No," Luffy said. "He said we can have snacks in our rooms. And he never said we couldn't use the kitchen."

"Then there you go." Law turned back to the book. "You're not going to starve after all."

"Yes, I am," Luffy said.

"Why don't you go bother someone else?" Law asked.

"Everyone else is busy," Luffy said.

"And so am I," Law said. "But you don't seem to care."

"You're my friend," Luffy said.

"The crew can be your friend," Law said. "Maybe they'll fish with you."

"Yeah! Everyone loves fishing!" Luffy ran for the door. "See you later, Tra!" Stepping outside he found one man was walking towards the edge of the ship with two fishing poles in hands. Smiling he ran down to him. "Hey! Can I fish with you?!"

"Uh, sure," he said passing over a fishing pole.

"Great!" Luffy took the pole and sat upon the railing. He dropped his line in and laughed. "This is so much fun!"

…

Law stared up at the ceiling while he waited for the ship to go quiet. He read books all day, only stopping to eat when it was time. He never found anything that would suggest what caused their memory loss. He tried to think of other ways that could cause amnesia. Nothing came to mind. Finally the ship had fallen silent. So he got up from his bed and walked over to the door. He opened it half of an inch and listened. Everything on the deck was quiet as can be. Closing the door he grabbed his lantern then spread out his Room. "Room. Shambles."

His room disappeared. He reappeared in one of the rooms on the lower level. The light of his lantern washed over the room. Sparkling jewels appeared before him. He walked closer to a pile and knelt down beside it. There were several different gems and gold coins scattered all over the place. Picking a red gem up, he inspected it. "Doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary."

He placed the gem back in the pile. If they needed to steal some they could do that later. Laden might be the type that keeps a close eye on his treasure. And getting caught was the last thing on his mind. He warped to another room. It was the same as the last, full of jewels and gems. Four more rooms ended up being the exact same as the next. The next room, however, delivered something new. The treasure inside of this room was neither gold nor any kind of gem that he had seen in the other rooms. They were all sizes from half an inch to two feet long. His lantern beamed over the crystal blue jewels and matching glowing crystal blue spots peppered the walls and ceiling. It was only a small pile but the glow was brighter than his lantern. "Now this is interesting. What kind of jewels are these?"

Footsteps near the door made his heart skip a beat. Someone grabbed the door handle and jiggled it. He warped behind a crate and shut his lantern off a spilt second before the door opened.

"I can't believe the captain added those two," a man said. A light ran over the room, highlighting the jewels before scanning over the walls.

"Yeah," another said. "But he's the captain. So what can we do? Looks like all the jewels are here."

"I hate that we're having to sail with these things," the first one said. "I'll be glad when we get rid of them."

"Yeah, well, you know how the boss wants them."

"True. But why do we have to find them? He might be all powerful and running the-" The door closed.

Not waiting around to see if they'll come back, Law warped himself back to his room. Turning off the lantern the light from outside spread out in his room. He placed the lantern down on the desk then sat down on his bed. "What were they talking about? I'm sure they weren't talking about their captain. So whom are they working for really? Are they part of a bigger crew of pirates and this captain is only the captain of this ship? At least I know Laden has his crew guarding the treasure rooms or at least _that_ one." He glanced over at the door. "I wonder what their mission is here."

 **Sarge1130: Thanks. This is the first time doing a story like this so it's probably not going to be all that good. It won't be very long either.**


	5. Lost: Neo

Lost

Neo

She woke up to the sound of birds chirping. Staring above she found a canopy of trees above her. The air was cool yet she was warm. She sat up and looked around to find that she was in a forest. And found she was lying in the middle of a large white flower with several animals around her. They looked up at her when she moved. Their voices all reaching her at the same time yet their mouths didn't move. "You all can talk?"  
A squirrel placed its paw on her leg.

"What? I've been sleeping for an entire week? I don't understand," she said placing a hand on her forehead. "I don't feel so good right now." She looked back to the animals when they spoke to her. "I'm what? Pregnant?"

The squirrel reached up and placed its paw on her stomach.

She noticed it then. Her stomach was round. She could sense the baby. Their baby was inside of her, sleeping peacefully. "I see. That must be why I don't feel so good right now. But there's something else wrong. I can't remember how I got here."

The animals spoke to her again.

"What? You just found me in the woods? I see. Thank you for taking care of me," she said. "My name is Neo. That's odd. Why can I remember that but nothing else about myself?" She looked up when some birds tweeted. A small group of blue and white birds were carrying a big leaf filled with berries. She took it from them. "These are for me? Thank you. I guess I do need to eat. It's important when you're pregnant. I think." She placed a red berried in her mouth. It's tarty juice washed over her tongue before a sweet flavor followed. "It's an interesting berry. What is it? A swart berry? I don't think I've ever heard of it before. These other berries have more of a sweet flavor to them. They're very nice. Thank you."

She ran her eyes over all of the animals before her. Some she recognized but some she didn't. One of those was a bird the size of a humming bird. It had a long dark blue beak, matching dark blue eyes, its feathers were light blue but for the tuff of feathers around its neck. It buzzed around her just like a humming bird would do. Its small head tilting both ways multiple times as it flew around her. "What is it? You can sense the elements inside of me?"

Neo looked down at herself. She tried to focus on what the animals were sensed but could only focus on her rounded stomach, which was barely visible underneath her black shirt. Then she felt it. The wind, water, earth, and fire was inside of her. "That's…odd. Why do I have that inside of me?"

She focused hard. Several crystals in all shapes and sized appeared. They were all shades of red, blue, green, and light blues. "That's weird. The elements are coming from inside of these crystals. But how? Have any of you ever seen someone like this before? You haven't. No, that's okay. I understand. I think. If I can get my memories back I'll know who I am. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to even do that."

Neo sighed and placed another berry inside of her mouth. "You didn't happen to see anyone else around me when you found me, did you? No? I see. I just appeared here. I wonder how that could possibly happen." Shifting her hand on the leaf she noticed something clinging to one of her fingers. Lifting her left hand up she found a silver ring with a heart shaped design made with blue gems on it. "What's this?" The image of a tall black haired man passed through her mind. Her head spun. "Who…who was that?"

The animals chirped and chattered at her worried she might be hurt.

"No, I'm not hurt," Neo said. "I just saw something while looking at this ring. I don't know who it was. And I don't know where this ring came from." Tears came to her eyes. "What should I do? What should I do?"

The animals snuggled up against her.

She wiped her tears away. "Thank you, my friends. Your forest looks like a nice place to live. But I don't think I can stay here. I need to figure out why I can only remember my name."

A bird flew right in front of her.

"There are others living here? But not like me," Neo said. "I see. Maybe there's someone there that can help me. That's nice of you to take me there. It might be best if I go there. You'll come with me? Are you sure it's safe for you all to do that?" A smile formed over her lips when they said they wanted to look after her. "Very well then. You can come with me. I'll do what I can to protect you if someone tries to hurt you."

The animals got off her and the flower. She followed them. The grass was soft under her bare feet. "I wonder where my shoes are. I didn't have any on? I must have lost them then. No matter. It doesn't bother me to be barefooted. Shall we go then?"

The animals ran and flew ahead of her. She followed after them. Her eyes ran over the forest. The trees were all sizes and shapes. One reminded her of an octopus that was upside down. She giggled. Her body twitched when bells came from her laughter. She touched her throat. "What was that? I have bells in my laughter? How is that possible?"

A couple of squirrels ran up her body and perched on her shoulders. They sniffed her and chattered curiously.

"I think I'm weird," Neo said. "I also beginning to think there's not going to be anyone who can tell me about myself. No, I want to keep going. I think." She paused then thought then added, "Yes, I do want to continue. Staying in this forest isn't going to give me answers."

The group then proceeded on through the forest. She looked up. It was obvious there was light source coming from somewhere but there appeared to be no sun at all. "That's odd. Where's the sun? What do you mean? You don't know what the sun is? It's a large burning star that lights up the planet during the day. You don't have one?" Neo paused and looked at her friends. "How can you have no sun? Where's this light coming from?"

"Well, well, look at what we have here," a deep voice said.

Neo jumped. She turned to see a man stepping out from behind a tree. His eyes were dark as coal. His hair dark brown and dirty from being unwashed. His clothes were wrinkled and stained from food and possibly blood. A shiver ran over her spine when her eyes landed on the sword hanging on his belt.

"I come out here to find a place to relieve myself and I find such a wonderful surprise waiting for me," he said. "The name's Dirk. What's yours, sweetheart?"

Neo took a step back from him when he took two steps closer to her. He was dangerous. Not only did her sense tell her that so did the animals. Their angry chirps and chatters voiced their warnings to the man.

"So those animals are your friends?" he asked. "That's cute. You look a little young, but you should be old enough for some delightful entertainment. Just tell your friends to stay back and they won't get hurt."

"I guess he can't understand you," Neo said. "He didn't react at all to your threats."

"What are you babbling about?" he asked.

"You can't understand them?" Neo asked.

"What are you babbling about?" Dirk lifted an eyebrow at her. "Are you some kind of freak?"

An ice-cold hand gripped her chest when the word freak penetrated her ears. She grabbed her head. Visions of people yelling at her flashed through her mind. "What…what is this? I'm so cold."

"I don't know what's wrong with you but I can over look a little oddness if you're good at preforming," Dirk said. "And I'm sure you can do just fine. You're young. You'll learn whether or not you've had experience in pleasuring men." He chuckled. "And I'm a very patient man with plenty of experience. So come along with me. My house isn't very far from here."

"No," Neo said.

"No?" Dirk asked.

"I'm not coming with you," Neo said.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice." He frowned and stepped closer to her.

"I'm telling you to stay back." Neo started walking backwards. "I'm not going anywhere with you. And I'm certainly not going to give you any sort of pleasure. I'm pregnant."

"Oh? Good. Then maybe it'll be a girl," Dirk said. "I can train her to pleasure me as well."

Fire flared up inside of Neo's chest. The wind picked up around them. She gripped her fists. "You will not touch me or our baby!"

"Our baby?" Dirk laughed. "I knew I was a good lover but I didn't think I was that good! We just met!"

"I'm not talking about you!" Neo summoned her crystals. The red ones flared up with fire.

"What the heck?" Dirk eyed the crystals.

Water circled around the dark blue ones. The wind flowed around the light blue ones. Dirt lifted up from the ground and circled around the green ones. The plant life around them also began to grow up. Vines snapped. Animals came from the woods, staring the threat down. A bear roared and whipped out its paw.

"What are you doing?!" Dirk took a few steps away from Neo while eyeing the bear and other wild animals.

"Keeping you away from our baby and me!" Neo said. "I won't allow you to touch either of us! You don't have the right!"

"L-look, lady, I was just kidding," Dirk said taking another step back. A vine snapped out at him. It hit the ground beside his boot. He jumped away from it.

"You lie," Neo said. "You were going to hurt us. But I won't permit it. However, I will let you go."

"What?" Dirk looked at her.

"It sickens me what you had planned for me and our baby," Neo said holding her stomach. "But you didn't touch us, yet. So I'm giving you the chance to leave and never come near us again."

"Well, that's mighty nice of you," Dirk said. "I'll do just that." He reached for his belt and pulled out his sword. It crackled with lightning. "Not! Lightning Strike!"

Neo pulled wind around her when Dirk sliced his sword at her. The lightning flew at her. She flew away from it. The lightning past her head and hit a tree, catching it on fire. Moving her fire crystals closer to the tree, she pulled the fire out of it then forced the fire towards Dirk.

Dirk jumped to his right. "Well, well, interesting things you can do with those crystals of yours. You're going to catch me a pretty price when I get my fill of you. I know plenty who would love to have you as a weapon. I wonder if those crystals can be dissected from you? No matter. I only have to have you as a whole. Whoever takes you can figure that out."

"Who the heck are you?" Neo asked.

"I'm Dirk," Dirk said again. "I'm a treasure hunter of sorts. I'm all the time looking for rare items like you."

"You think I'm a rare item?" Neo asked. "Why?"

"Because I've sailed all over the Star Line and have never came across anything like you," Dirk said. "You are one of a kind."

Sadness settled into Neo's chest. She tried to force it away. Just because he's never seen someone like her didn't mean she was literally the only one of her kind. "So you have no idea what I am?"

"Not a clue," Dirk said. "None of the star flakes have powers like this."

"Star flakes?" Neo asked.

"Like my sword here," Dirk said. "Well, sort of. I'm actually wearing this star flake under my clothes. I can channel its power into my sword. And just like you saw I can guide the lightning power to anywhere I wish." He held the sword up to her. It crackled and sparked. "I only have this one. I favor it over all of the other star flake powers."

"I see," Neo said. "And if I remove this star flake you'll lose your powers?"

"Perhaps." Dirk smirked. He reached down and adjusted himself. "That is, if you're brave enough to actually reach for it."

"You're so disgusting," Neo said.

"And why is that? You've clearly been with a man before," Dirk said. "You're pregnant after all."

Neo gritted her teeth. Perhaps she shouldn't have said that. This man might target their baby completely instead if just her. She looked down when she felt her crystals moving closer. Several of them had gathered around her. The wind wrapped around her stomach. "What in the world are they doing? Are they protecting our baby?"

"Why don't we find out if you're brave enough?" Dirk charged forward. Pulling back his sword, he swung it at Neo again.

With a flick of her hand, the ground rose up around her and coated her body. She wrapped a vine around the blade of his sword just before he could strike her.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Dirk demanded. "How can you do that?! My lightning should be frying you right now?!"

"I guess it just likes me," Neo said.

"Likes you?" Dirk scoffed. "You really are a freak."

That coldness came back as did the visions. They all stabbed in her head. She flinched releasing his sword.

"Now die!" Dirk swung at her again.

Her crystals flared up. The ground and vines wrapped around his sword, snapping the blade in half.

"No! You broke my sword!" Dirk said.

Neo shook her head. She brought her focus back to Dirk and tossed his broken sword at his feet. "If you don't get out of here I'll break you in half."

"Fine," Dirk said. He turned and ran away from her. "I'm out of here! You and those freaky powers of yours can go away!"

The coldness surrounded her again as nature went back to normal. Her crystals vanished. She wrapped her arms around her body. Tears leaked over her eyelids. "Freak…he might be right. Why does that word hurt so much?"

The animals gathered back around her. Some licked her skin while others rubbed their furry cheeks against her. A soft giggle escaped from her lips.

"Thank you, my friends. I'm fine. I think," Neo said. "It's just that word hurts. I get so cold. Yes, let's continued on to the town."

The animals resumed leading her through the forest. She scanned her eyes around her surroundings, wondering how exactly she did what she did. She never noticed before but she could feel nature all around her. A quarter mile from her location was a small stream. A few miles behind her were a small mountain with some goats climbing all over it. And inside the many caves were several different nighttime creatures waiting for their turn to come out and prowl the night. She looked back up to the trees and wondered when night would fall. Without the sun she wasn't sure how she would tell. She didn't even know what time it was.

When the animals started talking to her again, she brought her attention back to them and found they had made it to the edge of the forest. She gasped at the sea of stars and the purple colored sky spread out before her. "What is that? The sea? How can that be the sea? It's dark. And there're stars in it. And the sky is purple? You don't know, huh? That's okay. Maybe they have a library where I can do some research on it."

Neo walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down to the town below. "So that's the town you told me about, huh?"

Most buildings were huddled together near a dock with only three ships. But a few others were farther away from the rest. It looked peaceful enough. A bird landed on her shoulder. "I don't know what I should do. If that guy wanted me for these strange crystals I have then everyone else down there could too. Maybe I shouldn't go into the town. But I can't stay out here either."

The bird rubbed her cheek and chirped.

"I suppose that I can just not use my crystals," Neo said. She stroked the bird's smooth feathers with her finger. "I'll just have to be careful and not draw attention to myself. That shouldn't be too hard. Right?"

The animals exchanged looks.

They didn't have to speak for her to know what they were thinking. They were just as unsure as she was. Still she scanned for a path down the cliff. She walked to her right and found a dirt path that led down to the bottom. A few of the animals ran ahead of her while some trailed behind. At the bottom was a small forest. As they walked through it several other animals stopped to check her out. All of their voices went off in her head at the same time. She barely was able to understand them. But one question was obvious. "I'm sorry, everyone. I have no idea what I am. And I don't know how I can understand and talk to you all either. Apparently, I have some memory loss. I can't seem to remember anything about myself other than my name. Yes, that was me who controlled nature a while ago. Some man was trying to hurt me and our child."

Placing her hand on her stomach, Neo paused when a bird asked her why she kept saying our child. "I don't know. I must be talking about the man is that gave me this baby. And this ring." She lifted her hand to show them the ring. "That must be why. I just can't or I don't feel right about saying my baby. It feels better saying our baby. Does that sound weird? Thanks. You all are so understanding. Let's keep going."

Walking along a craving for a banana found its way into Neo. She summoned an earth crystal and formed herself a banana. "Wow. I can even create food. Or at least fruits and vegetables since they're part of nature."

She finished her banana just as they got to the edge of town. To her left was a field of pigs. One of them walked along the fence and snorted at her for the banana peeling. With a smile she tossed it to her. She reached the town. Standing near a building she looked into the town and at the people. They all had light brown skin, black hair, and slightly pointed ears. They were completely different from the man she had met in the forest. He had light colored skin. And his ears weren't pointed at all. "I've never seen people like this before. I wonder who they are."

Several minutes past and she still didn't step into the town. Her body twitched nervously. "I don't know why I'm not going in. I can't seem to get myself to move. But there's no danger here. Or I don't think there is. They seem nice enough. Nothing at all like that guy who found me in the forest. Maybe if I just watch them for a little while longer."

And she waited and just watched the people pass by her. A few noticed she was standing there but no one seemed to mind. She looked down when something tapped her foot. Sitting there was a ball. She bent down just as two girls ran over to her. She picked up the ball and held it out to them. "Is this yours?"

The tallest of the girl nodded and took the ball from her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Neo said.

"You're really pretty," the shorter one said.

"Thank you," Neo said. "You're pretty cute yourself."

The little girl's brown eyes sparkled. She giggled then ran away.

"You'll have to excuse my sister," the tall one said. "She's still young and doesn't have all of her manners."

"That's all right," Neo said.

"You're new here, aren't you?"

"I am." Neo nodded. "How did you know?"

"We get a few other visitors here but no one with your coloring," she said. "What cluster did you come from?"

"Cluster?" Neo asked.

"You know, other clusters like this one you're on," she said.

"This place is called a cluster?" Neo looked around. "I thought it was an island."

"An island?" The girl tilted her head. "What's that?"

"A landmass that's identical to this one," Neo said.

"Landmass? Never heard of it before," she said. She eyed the animals with Neo. "Those critters sure seem to like you. Do they belong to you?"

"No, they…I mean I found them in the forest," Neo said.

"I see," she said.

"Come on, Lana! Let's play!" a boy called.

"Coming!" she called back over her shoulder. "Well, I have to get going. Bye."

"Bye," Neo said. She stood up and wandered through the town. "I wonder why they call this place a cluster. It doesn't look like a cluster of anything."

She came upon a small building with the word 'Atheneum' on a sign over the door. A couple people exited the building with a few books underneath their arms. She watched them walk away before entering into the building. Her eyes landed on rows and rows of books. The smell of books sparked a tickle in the back of her mind. Joy bubbled up inside of her chest. She was excited.

"I'm sorry, but animals aren't allowed in the athenaeum," a woman said.

"Huh?" Neo brought her eyes to the woman who spoke. The woman was sitting behind a small desk. She then looked around at the animals. "Oh, I'm sorry. I should have known they wouldn't be allowed in here. She opened the door and waved them out. "Outside with you all. I won't be long." She turned back to the woman. "I really am sorry."

"It's all right." The woman adjusted her glasses. "You're new here, aren't you?"  
"It's really that obvious?" Neo asked more to herself than the woman.

"We don't get a lot of strangers," the woman said.

"I'm just here to look for history books," Neo said.

"They're on the back wall," she said.

"Thank you." Neo turned and walked to the back of the room. She turned down the last isle then stopped walking when the title of a book caught her eye. It was about memory loss. She plucked it off the shelf and opened it. She only managed to read a few words before her head started throbbing. "Diseases that cause progressive damage to the brain…vascular, fron-tote-mpro-al…ugh! I don't understand any of this. If only I could I might be able to understand why I can't remember anything but my name and ordinary everyday things."

With a heave sigh she placed the book back on the shelf and turned to the shelf behind her. After a few seconds of looking at the spines of the books she finally pulled one off of the shelf with the title 'Star Line'. It had to weigh almost ten pounds. She sat down on the floor and opened the book on her lap. Neo scanned her eyes over the words. "The clusters of the Star Line are made up of star dust from what many believe are fallen stars from the sky." She hummed and continued reading. "Though no one is sure exactly where the clusters really came to be there's one popular story that has been told since the beginning of time. A long time ago a sailor from the other side…" She wondered what the other side was since it didn't mention it and continued reading. "…and discovered and powerful crystal that's said to be able to shape and reshape the clusters into a powerful weapon." She flipped to the next page to see an illustration of a crystal in the shape of a twelve-pointed star then continued reading. "It's said that the sailor was able to move the clusters and form the weapon. Upon doing so he found a lot of hidden treasure. He became very greedy. Soon he wanted all of the jewels and money in the Star Line for himself. He killed anyone who didn't give him what he wanted. The more greedy he became the more powerful the crystal seemed to become. Many began to suffer and a lot died from dissent. Before long the crystal had turned to liquid and covered his body. The man became a tyrant. All hope appeared to be lost until one day a young girl arrived. The crystal reacted to her. Somehow she was able to pull the crystal from the sailor's body and put everything back to normal. In order for this to never happen again she shattered the crystal and scattered it over the Star Line in hopes that it would never be found and used again. In doing so she was granted the star scepter to help rule over the Star Line. Her descendants have been watching over the Star Line since then with the scepter by their side."

Neo flipped to the next chapter of the book. "Well, that's interesting. So this cluster is basically an island itself." She continued reading. "The clusters are home to many strange creatures that don't appear on the other side. Some believe that these creatures were normal until they were infused with the radiation of the crystal. Others believed these creatures already existed in the Star Line and have only been discovered since the Star Line was. However, there are also normal creatures from the other side that have managed to find their way here through the gate either by themselves or they have been brought over by someone." She paused for a moment. Throbbing appeared behind her temples. She rubbed them in an attempt to get the pain to stop. "The other side…another sea perhaps?"

A few moments passed before the throbbing stopped. Closing the book she stood up and headed back to the front of the building. The woman was still sitting at her desk. Neo walked closer and cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me?"

"Yes?" The woman looked up.

"Could you answer a question for me?" Neo asked.

"Of course," she said. "It's what I'm here for."

"This book keeps taking about the other side," Neo said. "What does it mean by that?"

"The other side is referring to the other side of the Star Line," she said. "Not many inhabitants go over there but plenty have came over here."

"Do you know the name of the place?" Neo asked.

"I do not," she said. "Not many have expressed an interest in going to the other side. So most of its knowledge is lost to those of us who have lived here our whole lives."

"Is there a reason for that? Or do they really just not have an interest in it?" Neo asked.

"Well, there's a horrible bright star that lives on the other side," she said. "It's a poison to our people. A few have ventured to the other side but only one has ever came back. He was covered in these strange red patches. He kept mumbling about a bright star that burned his skin."

"The sun?" Neo asked.

"I don't know." She took off her glasses and cleaned them with a cloth. "But it doesn't matter. He died. No medication could cure him."

"I see," Neo said.

"So it was decreed by the current ruler at the time that no one is to go to the other side," she said placing her glasses back on her face. "It's not absolutely forbidden so people might have tried going over there to see what's there. If they have they never came back alive. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"Do you know anything about memory loss?" Neo asked.

"I do not," she said. "But there are plenty of books in the back if you want to read them."

"Okay. Thank you for your help," Neo said. She walked back to the isle and placed the book back on the shelf before heading back outside. The animals greeted her when she stepped out the door. "Sorry I took so long. But I did manage to find some information on this place. Unfortunately, nothing about who I am and why I can't remember much of anything."

She scanned her eyes around the town again. Everyone appeared to be so happy. It caused a loneliness to settle into her stomach. She didn't like it here. Being in the forest was more settling to her. So she walked away from the town to head back to it. "I'm going back to the forest. Don't worry about him. I'm sure he won't bother me again."

By the time she got back up on the cliff a wash of tiredness came over her. She yawned. "I should take a nap. I'm sleepy. You might be right. I should find a place in the trees."

Walking about a fourth of a mile into the forest, Neo looked up to the branches. Not feeling comfortable enough with sleeping on the ground after what happened with that man earlier she knew she would be safer in the trees since no one ever looked up. She summoned an earth crystal. Wishing for some vines to create a bed, her crystal began to glow. Vines slithered from it and went up to the trees. The vines wrapped around a couple of branches, creating a bed for her. Next she filled her bed with soft flower petals and flew herself up to it using a wind crystal. She laid down. All of the animals that could fly or climb trees laid down around her, giving her their warmth. "Thank you all. It's nice of you to keep me warm. Maybe tomorrow I can decide what I should do with myself."

Neo sighed and relaxed into her bed. Her hand found her stomach when the baby kicked her. "Don't worry, baby. I figure out who we are. And where your dad is. You just rest. Everything will be just fine."


	6. Hoshi

Hoshi

 _Neo opened her eyes when she felt a hand take hers. A voice said, "Can you hear me?" She turned her eyes to the voice. Someone was standing beside her though she was unable to see his face. Her heart skipped a beat though it wasn't in fear. She knew she could trust him. Her fingers curled around his._

 _"Who are you?" she asked. When the man didn't answer she released his hand. Then she noticed she was sitting on a large white flower. "What? Didn't I already…" She turned her eyes back to him. Despite the inability to see his face she could tell that he was watching her closely. "Do you know why we're here?"_

 _She slid off the flower. He was a head taller than she was. Suddenly a dark presence settled over the forest. She could feel the animals shivered before bolting for the safety of the forest, leaving her alone with this man._

 _"There's nothing you can do," a voice said. "You all are lost forever."_

 _"Lost? What do you mean?" Neo asked. She looked around the forest, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. She then looked back up at the man before her. He was fading from her sight. "No! Don't go!"_

 _"Give up," the voice said. "You can't win."_

 _"Please, don't leave!" Neo reached for him. But her hand passed right through his body. As he completely disappeared a coldness settled into her chest. She wrapped her arms around herself and sank to her knees. "No…please…don't leave me alone. I don't want to be a lone. I need you. Please come back!"_

"Please, come back. Don't let him get hurt. You have to find me." Neo opened her eyes to the sound of her bird friends singing. One flew in front of her face, seeing if she was awake. She sat up. A yawn escaped her as she stretched out her body. "Yes, I'm all right. I was having a strange dream about someone. No, I don't know who it was. But I wasn't scared of him. There was something comforting about him. He held my hand. Then someone spoke to us. They told me we were all lost forever. Maybe I would have gotten more information if I stayed asleep a little longer. Or maybe it was just a dream. I wish that I could have kept on dreaming to see." Her stomach grumbled. "But I don't think my stomach or our baby would appreciate it."

She summoned her earth crystals and grew her some berries, a couple apples, and a banana then settled back into her bed. Popping a berry into her mouth, she said, "I wonder if eating this is all right for our baby. I can't remember anything about that either. This memory loss is just so weird. I wonder if it's possible that there's a doctor in the town that could answer my questions."

A squirrel chattered at her.

"You might be right," Neo said. "It would be hard for anyone to figure out what's wrong with me if I don't even know how I got here or anything else. I guess instead of doing that I could work with my crystals. Maybe there's more I can do with them?" She giggled. "Your support it most welcome. Thank you all for being here. I don't know how I'd get through this without you all."

"I'd really love to just lay here all day long. The air under the canopy is so nice and cool. But that's not going to be possible. My bladder is highly objecting to it." Finishing up her breakfast, Neo lowered herself down to the forest floor. After taking care of her morning business she ran her fingers through her hair to comb out the tangles. "I'm going to have to find some new clothes soon. I have no idea how long I've been wearing these. A shower might be nice as well at some point. Might as well get to work."

She summoned one of each of her crystals. They followed her will with ease and began to glow and form their respective elements. "So I can create the elements through the crystals." A gentle breeze blew past her. She could feel the wind tangling into the small whirlwind around her wind crystal. "It also appears that I can connect to the elements that exist in nature. This is so weird and incredible. I wonder how much I'm actually connected to nature. I can already control the elements and I can sense animals all over the place."

"I say it's only a matter of time before you figure out what all you can do," a voice said.

"You might be right. I might just need to…" Neo's voice trailed off. She scanned her eyes around the forest but didn't see anyone except for the animals and a snowy white cat she hasn't seen before. Her eyes paused on the cat. Or she thought it was a cat. It looked like a cross between a cat and a fox. Its ears were definitely more like a fox with three tuffs of hair on the tips of its ears. It stood as tall as a fox but its body was sleek like a cat. Its large eyes were navy blue with a dusting of white sparkles in them.

It scratched its ear before saying, "About time I found you. I feel like I've been searching for years."

"What…what do you mean?" Neo asked.

"Oh, that's right," it said. "You don't know. I should have known. I mean I did know." It shook its head. "Anyway, my name is Hoshi. I've come to gather you and your friends up."

"My friends?" Neo asked.

"Take a look at this." Hoshi's eyes began to glow. The glow shot out like a beam.

Neo looked at the beam when it paused in front of her. Slowly a small rectangular shape appeared in front of her. The glow gathered around the edges, giving her the ability to see it was a picture. She took it between her index finger and thumb. Including herself there was a total of sixteen people on it. In the background was a ship with a sunflower like lion as the figurehead and another yellow ship.

"Those are your friends," Hoshi said. "Their names are written beside them. On the back is a little information about them. It's not much to go on but at least its something."

"I don't understand," Neo said, her eyes locked onto the cat creature.

"Just look at the picture," Hoshi said.

Neo let her eyes pull away from the cat like creature and down to the picture in her hand. She scanned her eyes over the pictured before they locked onto one particular person. Her breath hitched in her chest at the sight of him. It was the tall black haired man that she was clinging to. Her heart hammered in her chest. Something about him was extremely familiar but she wasn't exactly sure why. Scribbled beside his shoulder in delicate swirls was his name: Law. She flipped it over to the back and found his name again.

 _Law, Op Op Devil Fruit user, doctor, husband to Neo, father to their child, captain of the Heart Pirates and their sub the Polar Tang_

Heat rushed to Neo's cheeks. This man was her husband and the father of their child. She turned the picture back over and found she couldn't look away from him. He was tall, obviously taller than she was. He had an odd affinity for spots. His white hat had them and they ran up the sides of his pant legs. He wore a black shirt with an odd smiling logo on it and more spots; both the spots and logo were in yellow. Her arms were wrapped around his left arm while he sported a large sword that rested on his right shoulder.

"Something wrong?" Hoshi asked.

"I-it's nothing." Neo forced her eyes off him and flipped back over to the information. She continued to read everyone else's. Her information read: _Neo, co-captain of the Heart Pirates, wife to Law, mother to their child, little sister to the crew, friend to the Straw Hat Pirates, elemental princess with all the element crystals and the solar crystal_ "Solar crystal? What's that?"

 _Penguin, subordinate to Law, big brother to Neo, martial arts master_

She flipped the picture over to look at him. His name was obvious. It was on his hat. And his hat was covering his eyes so she couldn't see them. He was wearing some kind of full body suit, tan in color, with the same smiling logo that Law worn over his chest only it was black.

 _Shachi, subordinate to Law, friend, and brother to Neo, martial arts expert_

This one had shaggy reddish brown hair under his red and green brim hat. His eyes were covered like Penguin but with dark sunglasses. He too wore a full body suit with the same logo.

 _Bepo, navigator of the Heart Pirates, mink polar bear, martial arts master_

He was one of the tallest of the group. He also wore the full body suit but his was orange.

 _Topaz, fire elemental, big sister to Neo_

Her hair was orange as was her eyes. She like the men before her was also wearing the full body suit.

 _Kailen, earth elemental, adopted big brother of Neo_

His hair and eyes were green. He was wearing a button up light green shirt and jeans.

 _Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Gum Gum Devil Fruit user_

He appeared to be one of the youngest of the group. He wore a straw hat over his black hair, a red open chest shirt with long sleeves, and shorts that fell below his knees. His black eyes and lips were brightly smiling.

 _Roronoa Zoro, first mate and swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates, constantly gets lost_

His hair was a mossy green color. He sported a scar over his left eye, one across his chest, and three swords on his belt. He wore an open dark green coat with a thick red sash around his waist and a green haramaki underneath.

 _Nami, navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates, former thief, loves money_

She had long light orange hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a green bikini top and jeans with high heel sandals.

 _Usopp, sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates, coward but reliable_

He wore a bag over his shoulder with long curly hair. She paused and giggled at his long nose before continuing to look him over. He wore goggles around his neck, a little goatee, a white sun cap, and a pair of rolled-up yellow pant with red suspenders and a pair of boots.

"Well, these people seem very, um, colorful," Neo said before continuing.

 _Sanji, cook of the Straw Hat Pirates, loves women, fights with his feet_

He wore a simple black suit. His blonde hair fell over his right eye but his left eye was showing. It revealed his eyes were blue and his eyebrows were curly.

 _Tony Tony Chopper, Human Human Devil Fruit, reindeer, doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates, multiple transformations_

She found him absolutely one of the cutest things she had ever seen. He managed to wear a blue cap with a ring of dots around the circle with buckles hanging from it. His shirt was a white and yellow vertical striped tank top and an orange pair of shorts.

 _Nico Robin, Flower Flower Devil Fruit, archeologist of the Straw Hat Pirates_

She had long black hair and blue eyes. She wore a floral camisole and black shorts. Neo noticed she had a real calm expression unlike the others.

 _Franky, cyborg, shipwright, built the Thousand Sunny_

He had light blue hair and sunglass. He has broad shoulders, stitch marks across his torso, large forearms, and hands with a red shirt and what she hoped wasn't underwear.

 _Brook, Revive Revive Devil Fruit, living skeleton, musician of the Straw Hat Pirates_

He wore a simple black coat and pants with a top hat and cane.

"Wait…there's one more person here but it only gives her name and that we're friends with her," Neo said staring at the girl with white hair and dark blue eyes. She couldn't help but notice the girl also had white sparkles in her eyes just like Hoshi. She wore a simple light orange sundress. "Tsuki. She actually looks a lot like you. Who are you exactly?"

"I'm a guardian of the Star Line," Hoshi said. "I was called because there was trouble with the royal family. If there's trouble then I'm your boy."

"The royal family?" Neo asked.

"They've been…well, I'm not sure exactly where they are at the moment," Hoshi said. "All I know is Kuro made his move and the family is now missing. If I had to guess he probably sealed them away somewhere."

"I don't really understand any of this. Then how do you know we can help?" Neo asked.

"Because of Tsuki," Hoshi said. "She's the one who summoned me. She's disappeared as well. If we find her I'm sure she can tell us exactly what's happened."

"But how do I know I can trust you?" Neo asked. "Someone already tried to take advantage of me."

"I'm not sure really," Hoshi said. "Tsuki just told me to find you first. She said that you have really good instincts and would get along with me the best because of your nature."

"My nature?" Neo looked at the back of the photo again. "Do you mean this elemental thing?"

"I believe so," Hoshi said. "I can feel the elements inside of her. And just so you know, I can also sense the little one inside of you. Such a precious baby you have."

Neo placed her hand on her stomach. "Thank you."

"I know this is a really confusing time for you at the moment," Hoshi said, "but we really need to find your friends. It's the only way to get your memories back."

Neo stared into his big eyes. A strange connection passed between them. It was like she could see inside of his mind and soul. She knew she could trust him. "All right. I trust you. So what do we do first?"

"The first person we have to go after is Nami, the navigator," Hoshi said.

"Why her?" Neo asked.

"Because she's the navigator," Hoshi said. "Well, the bear is also a navigator but he's too far away for me to sense from this cluster."

"I don't understand," Neo said. "How can you sense this navigator?"

"It's kind of hard to explain," Hoshi said. "You all came from the other side. So you have a different smell to you from the people who live here, especially you. You are very different from them all. You were easier to track. I believe your abilities will be most helpful in gathering the rest of your friends."

"My abilities…I've learned about them but for the solar crystal," Neo said. "That one I'm not sure yet what it can do. I didn't even notice it was there until I read the information on the back of the picture."

"What do you feel from it now?" Hoshi asked.

"Healing," Neo said. "I can feel some kind of healing magic coming from it."

"Then that must be what it is." Hoshi scratched behind his ear then shook his head. "So, are you ready to go?"

"I guess so," Neo said. "How are we getting there?"

"I think you might be able to fly us there," Hoshi said. "The cluster that the navigator is on is a few miles from here."

"Okay, but how are we going to actually convince all these people that we're friends?" Neo asked. "Do you think they'll actually believe this picture?"

"They have to," Hoshi said. "Why wouldn't they? The proof that you all are friends is right there in front of you."

"I don't think it's going to be as easy as you think it is," Neo said.

"Well, if worst come to worst you can always tie them up with vines and drag them along with us," Hoshi said.

Neo giggled. "I think we should avoid that option at all costs. These people might be strong."

"A lot like that is completely hopeless," Hoshi said. "Trust me. They will come. So are you ready to go?"

"I guess so," Neo said. "It's not like I was doing anything here."

"Then let's go." Hoshi stood on his paws. "We should get out of the forest before we fly off."

Neo stood up and followed Hoshi to the edge of the forest. The animals followed along with them. "I'm sorry but I have to go now. I have to find these…my friends. Thank you all so much for your help. Maybe I'll get to see you all again some day. Take care of yourselves." She stuck the picture in the pocket of her jeans then held her hands out to Hoshi. "Come on."

"First class." Hoshi jumped into her arms. "I like it."

"So which way do we go?" Neo asked.

"That way." Hoshi pointed to the left with his tail.

Neo summoned a couple wind crystals. Upon her command the wind came from her crystals. It wrapped around them and lifted them off the ground. She took off in the direction Hoshi told her to go. Curious about the water beneath them, she lowered down and scooped up a hand full of it. The water remained the same, sparkling with stars. "This water is so weird. How is it possible it can do this?"

"That's one of the greatest mysteries of the Star Line," Hoshi said. "Many have looked for the answers yet no one come close to giving a reason for it to happen."

"So it's probably just a mystery that will never be solved," Neo said.

"Most likely. Are you sure you'll be able to fly us all the way here?" Hoshi asked. "You're pregnant after all. And pregnant women can get tired. Or so I'm told. I've never been around one before."

"I should be just fine, as long as we don't get surprised by some sea creature below. But I should be able to sense them when they come this way. I sense a few sea creatures below but they don't seem to care that we're here. Besides, it's not like I have much of a choice," Neo said. She lifted them higher into the air. "Unless you want to see if we can get a ride with someone. There were some ships at the dock. Maybe one of them could give us a ride?"

"Not a good idea," Hoshi said. "We have no idea who's actually working for Kuro. It's best to avoid people as much as we possibly can."

"Why would that matter?" Neo asked.

"I believe that something happened in a fight you all were in," Hoshi said.

"A fight?" Neo asked.

"The only known way to have someone grain memory loss here outside of a traumatic even or injury is from the star scepter," Hoshi said. "The only thing I'm not sure about is who actually used it against you, Kuro or Tsuki. I also know that Kuro will be trying to find you all so he can kill you."

"That's terrible," Neo said. "I wonder why he's so angry at us."

"You and your friends are probably a threat to his rule," Hoshi said. "Best I can guess is you disrupted his plans in some way."

Neo's heart skipped a beat at the thought of someone trying to kill her friends, especially Law. And none of them were aware they were in danger. Tears leaked over her eyelids. She looked down when a paw landed on her face.

"Try not to worry," Hoshi said. "We will find them. The first step is finding the navigator Nami. Then we'll be off to find your husband."

"We're going to find Law next?" Neo asked.

"We are." Hoshi nodded.

Neo smiled, an over whelming sense of joy washed over her. She wanted to find him first. But she knew it wasn't possible. But she could speed things up a bit. "Hold on. We're going to go faster."

Summoning a few more wind crystals, Neo picked up the speed on their flying.

"Now this is more like it!" Hoshi said, the wind whipping at his whiskers. "We'll find them all in no time!"

Neo nodded. "So why are you just now showing up? Where have you been before you came to find me?"  
"Like I said before," Hoshi said. "I'm a guardian. Unless I'm needed I spent my time sleeping. Plus it took me a while to find you because I can't operate a ship on my own. I had to sneak around and get on other ships until I could make it to the cluster you were on."

"Alone?" Neo asked.

"How else would I do it?" Hoshi asked.

"I don't know," Neo said. "Isn't there someone you can sleep with?"

"Not really," Hoshi said. "And it wouldn't matter anyway since we guardians do nothing but sleep when we're not working."

"I'm sorry but that sounds kind of boring," Neo said.

"Maybe to you," Hoshi said. "But it's not to me. Time passes fast when you're sleeping. Though I have to admit that it's nice being out here like this." He drew in a deep breath. "Yeah, the air smells so fresh, salty, and good."

Neo sniffed the air. "I can't really tell. It just smells salty to me."

"Well, you don't have the nose that I do," Hoshi said. "It's a thousand times powerful than yours, maybe more."

"Hey, Hoshi?" Neo asked. "Do you think this Law guy is the same one I had in my dream?"

"Your dream?" Hoshi looked up at her.

"Yeah." Neo nodded. "Before I woke up today I was dreaming about sleeping in a large white flower and this guy took my hand. And what's even more strange is I actually woke up in a large white flower when I found myself here."

"That's an odd coincident," Hoshi said.

"So you have no idea?" Neo asked.

"I don't know anything about dreams," Hoshi said. "My kind don't have them when we sleep. You'd need to see a dream polyglot. They have a better chance at telling you what your dream was about. Personally, I don't trust them. They can easily make up lies to tell people. It's probably best if you don't seek one out."

"If you say so," Neo said. "My answers may come when we find this Law guy."

"You mean your husband," Hoshi said with a smirk.

"Wh-what are you smirking about?" Heat rose on Neo's cheeks.

"Oh, nothing," Hoshi said. "It's just that you're carrying his baby."

Neo cheeks burned like fire. "S-so?!"

Hoshi laughed. "I'm getting the feeling you're more on the shy side of things. You do have an innocent air around you too."

"Is that bad?" Neo asked.

"Not at all," Hoshi said. "I think it's really cute. And I really like you. So you have my protection from this point on. Consider me your guardian."

"That's nice of you," Neo said.

"Just leave it all up to me," Hoshi said. "No one shall harm you with me around. I might not be the strongest in this world but I'm not the weakest either."

"So you can do magic?" Neo asked.

"I suppose you could call it that," Hoshi said. "I would give you an demonstration but it really drains my strength. So it's best if I save it for when we need it."

"That's fine," Neo said. "I wouldn't want you to get into trouble. But if you do I'll do what I can to protect you."

"You're just too cute!" Hoshi said with a sparkling smile. "Onward, my sweet elemental princess!"

Neo laughed. "You have a funny side."

"I have multiple layers," Hoshi said. "Though I should warn you that I'm only this nice to people I actually like. So don't expect me to get along nicely with your friends."

"Oh? Well, that's okay," Neo said. "I'm not sure what they're like so you might fit right in with them."

"I guess we'll see soon enough," Hoshi said. "We're coming up on the island."

Neo looked in front of them. A large mountain sat in the distance. With each second they drew closer and closer the island got bigger and bigger. Her heart pounded with nervousness and fear. She had no idea what to expect here. But soon she would find out.


	7. Lost: Nami

Lost

Nami

Nami stood at the corner, using the building to shield her from her target. She scanned the busy street and located her two associates, Sirius and Vega. They were moving in closer to the fruit stand and stood out rather loudly due to their worn down robes. They were dark and dingy while everyone else's wore lighter colors embellished with sparkling common jewels that only looked valuable. No one actually wore jewels and gems that were valuable. It was too tempting for thieves to steal them.

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since yesterday. She sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Maybe I should have just used some of my jewels to buy some food instead. But then I wouldn't have nearly as much as I have now. This heat is going to kill me if I don't get out of here soon."

She tucked herself back behind the building a bit more when she saw the common color of the flic, red. The two officers were walking up and down the crowded streets looking for thieves that were targeting the stands. And that is exactly what she and her two accomplices were doing. She turned her eyes back to Sirius and Vega. Sirius, the older of the two boys, had spotted the flic. But Vega was unaware of them as he moved in closer to the fruit stand. "No, you stupid idiot. Don't go directly for the fruit. You're supposed to look around. Geez. Why did I join up with these two? They're complete amateurs."

She gritted her teeth when Sirius spot the flic going right towards Vega and tucked back against the wall so she wouldn't be seen. She knew with their lack of skills they were going to get caught. Never had she been so glad she didn't tell them where she was staying. They would absolutely follow her there if she did. And she knew without a doubt that they would steal her treasure that she had accumulated in the past few days that she's been here. Her mind started to wonder off to that time. It was interrupted when she heard someone shouting.

"Stop, larcenist!"

Women screamed, to which Nami had no idea why. Like screaming would stop a thief from stealing. Peaking out from the corner she saw the two boys running towards her, both carrying fruit in their arms. "What do you think you're doing?! Don't lead them over here!"

"Nami! Help us!" they shouted.

Nami bolted away from the building. She weaved in and out of the crowds.

"Nami!" they boys shouted out.

"Don't say my name!" Nami screamed back over her shoulder. "And stop running towards me!"

Still the boys followed. Their shaggy black hair bounced around their shoulders as they ran. Just behind them was the two flics waving their whip sticks. One flic snapped out his stick. A long string shot out of the end and flew through the air. A loud snap rang out through the air with it. It was followed by a static crackle and Vega's scream. They had paralyzed him. That meant he was caught. And if she didn't get out of here she would be caught as well.

"Nami, wait for me!" Sirius shouted.

"I said stay away from me!" Nami said. "You're too slow! Just get caught!"

"You're so mean!" Sirius said. "I got this fruit for us!"

"Well, that's a good thing at least!" Nami said. She noticed the flics getting closer and closer. "But it's not going to do me any good if I get caught!"

"What about me?!" Sirius aside, tears gathered in his eyes.

"You're not my responsibility! Oh! That's right!" Nami said. Reaching into her robe she pulled out her almost forgotten baton. "I can't believe I almost forgot about this!" She spun around and swung the white and orange baton in a downward motion. Lightning came flying down out of the sky and landed right on top of the two flics. "Yeah! Got you!"

"Great!" Sirius said. "Now we can go back and pick up Vega!"

"No, _we_ are not!" Nami said as they continued running through the crowds. "It's his own fault he got caught!"

"But he's young!" Sirius said.

"I don't care! I told him multiple times to keep and eye out for any flic! And he didn't! This is a tough world, kid! You have to be strong to survive!" Nami said.

"Says the one who didn't know anything about this place!" Sirius said. "You still don't know anything about it!"

"Just shut up!" Nami said. The crowds of people began to clear out the farther they got to the edge of town. Soon the chatters of the people gave way to the silence of the forest. With her lungs and heart pumping hard she ducked behind a large tree and peaked out to see if anyone was following them. No one appeared coming out of the town. She sighed. "Safe."

"Poor Vega," Sirius said.

Nami turned to the boy. He was sitting on the ground with six yellow and orange spotted fruit scattered around him. Her stomach grumbled and her mouth watered in anticipation of eating them. She walked over and grabbed all but one of them.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Sirius demanded. "Half of those are mine! Actually they all should be mine! I'm the one who got them!"

"You wouldn't have got them if it wasn't for me," Nami said. "So consider this my payment for helping you learn how to steal."

"What?! I knew how to steal long before you came along!" Sirius said.

"Maybe. But you're no good at it," Nami said. "You should just go back home."

"No! I won't! Sirius said. "I hate it there!"

"Oh, yeah, it must be bad having a roof over your head and food in your belly," Nami said.

"Oh, yeah?!" Sirius said.

"That's all you got? Look, kid, I appreciate the help you've given me but I can't babysit you all of the time," Nami said. "I have important work to do."

"Yeah right," Sirius said. "What work could someone like you possibly have?"  
"I'm setting out to sea of course," Nami said.

"You and what ship?" Sirius asked. "You don't have one."

"I'm a thief, remember?" Nami said walking away. "I'm going to steal one soon. So see you around, kid."

"Give those back! I'm the one who got them!" Sirius jumped up and leaped at her.

Nami spun around in time to dodge him. She twirled her baton and pointed it right under his chin. "Don't be stupid. You've seen what this thing can do."

Sirius swallowed.

"I left you enough to eat," Nami said before waving her baton around her body. She disappeared.

"Hey!" Sirius demanded. "Come back here! You stupid girl! I hate you!"

Nami listened to Sirius shouting at her from a tree fifteen yards away from him. She smiled at him before turning and running deeper into the forest. The thick canopy gave her a cool shade over her skin. The light bugs, as she called them, flew around the dark forest giving her enough light to see. Soon she came to three red leaf bushes that stood twice her height. She paused and looked around. No one appeared to be anywhere around so she pushed her way through them, careful to not drop her fruit. Coming out on the other side she ducked under the branch she had laid across two other trees, with bells tied onto it, as a trap incase anyone ventured this way. She then stepped over the small stream and pushed a large curtain of light purple leaves from the entrance of the cave she had been staying in. The glow of the luminous mushrooms greeted her as she walked through the cool cave. Their light shone on her pile of glittering jewels and gems. "Such a lovely sight to come home to."

Walking across the cave she sat down on the pile. "I sure missed you! Yes, I did! I really do love my treasure!"

Settling down, Nami allowed all but one of her fruits to roll off of her lap. She sunk her teeth into the fuzzy skin of the fruit. A delighted hum escaped her lips from the tangy flavor pouring over her taste buds. "I love this fruit. But I'm really getting tired of eating it. I can't wait to get out of here." She lifted up her baton and looked at it. "I just hope you're powerful enough to help keep me out of trouble. I'm still not sure where you came from, but I'm glad I have you."

Nami sighed. Her mind once again drifted off back to when she first woke up in this place eight days ago.

 _She opened her eyes to the purple shaded sky above her. Her head buzzed and was cloudy. She couldn't remember anything. Pushing herself up she glanced around her surroundings. The first thing that caught her eye was the odd looking body of water right in front of her. "What the heck?"_

 _She looked up at the sky then back to the water. Something was clearly wrong with both of them. They were the wrong colors, or so she thought. The sky shouldn't be purple. And the water shouldn't look black with stars. She moved to stand up but stopped when she noticed something was in her hand. Lifting it up she found she was holding a vertical yellow and orange striped baton of some sort. "This is odd. I wonder why I have this thing."_

 _Ignoring it for the time, she pushed herself to her feet and walked over to the edge of the water. The waves lapped up to her heels, threatening to get her feet wet. She walked out into the water and scooped up a handful of it. The water was still dark and starry. "That's impossible. How is this happening? Where the heck am I?"_

 _Letting the water fall from her hand she turned back to the beach. A thick forest laid out before her. The bark was blue grey while the leaves were a murky purple color. The trunks of the trees were round at the bottom then had a skinny part before rounding out again. The branches reached out and twisted in all directions. "This place is just odd all over."_

 _She placed her baton free hand on her hip. "Well, what should I do? I can't just stand around here all day." She looked up at the sky. "Or night? I can't tell which it actually is. There's light so I can see but the sky's purple. How's that possible? Anyway, I might as well look around and see if I can find some civilization. They might be able to tell me what's going on."_

 _Turning to her right, Nami walked down the beach. Several minutes passed and nothing but more beach and trees appeared. "Don't tell me I'm the only one here. That's not going to be good at all. I won't be able to get off this island."_

 _Sweat started to bead on her skin as she continued her long and boring trek along the hot beach. "Fells like it's getting hotter."_

 _Several more minutes of walking let her up to a rock formation. Placing her hand on the rock, with the intention of climbing it, she jerked back when heat burned her hand. "Ouch! That's hot! What in the world is up with this place?! There's no blasted sun here!"_

 _She shook her hand. With her hand still burning she walked over to the sea and placed her hand into the water. The throbbing subsided to the touch of the cool water. Pulling her hand back she examined her flesh. Her skin was slightly red but no damage had been done. She sighed and turned back to the rock formation. "Well, I can't climb it. So I guess I have to go through the forest or just sit here waiting for who knows how long before I'm found."_

 _She stared at the forest for a few minutes before walking towards it. Entering into the forest she found it a lot cooler than out on the beach. A light purple fruit hanging down from a vine caught her attention. The sight of it made her stomach grumbled. With little thought she reached up and plucked one off of the vine. She dug her nail into it. Dark purple juice poured out of the skin. It was followed by a rotten smell. "Yuck. No way this is eatable smelling like that."_

 _She tossed the fruit away and kept walked for a little over an hour. Her feet ached. Her legs were screaming at her to stop. Her stomach bellowed for food. "I'm so hungry."_

 _Finally the sound of shouting caught her attention. The forest thinned out and she found herself at the edge of a city. Her eyes ran over the tops of the building, none of them were the same height. Looking down she found there were crowds upon crowds wondering around several booths. And on those booths were food. Several colorful fruits and other foods, that didn't look familiar at all to her, were sat out for the taking. She reached into her pocket and found some cash inside. "Good. At least I won't have to starve while I'm here."_

 _She walked into the bazaar and right to a fruit stand. "I'll take two of those."_

 _The man behind the booth held up two yellow and white spotted fruits. "That'll be three bits."_

 _Nami handed over a bill._

 _"What is this?" the man asked._

 _"Money," Nami said._

 _"It's useless paper," the man said placing the fruit back down. "The fruit is two bits."_

 _"But this is what I have!" Nami said._

 _"Then move along!" The man turned to another costumer. "How may I help you?"_

 _"What a jerk!" Nami turned and walked away. Without thinking she slipped her hand up to the fruit and grabbed one. She held it tight against her stomach as she hurried through the city. Her heart thudded against her chest. She expected someone to yell at her but it didn't happen. Ducking down an alley she peaked back out and found no one following her. "Huh." She looked at the fruit in her hand. "I wonder how I was able to do that and not get caught? All well."_

 _Nami sat down on a step and sunk her teeth into the fruit. A honey like substance passed over her teeth, coating her taste buds. As she ate her prize she watched the people before her. They all had dark skin and hair with slightly pointed ears. And they all were dressed in robe like clothing. Some were long and had hoods on them while others were short, above the knees, some with hoods and some without. A few people walked by with a strange looking creature that put her in mind of a caterpillar with long brown hair. "Creepy looking creature. I guess I need to figure out what I should do from here. I don't really want to stay in this place. It's far too hot."_

 _Finishing up her fruit she headed back into the crowds to see what else this place offered in the forms of food and on ways to get out of here. Walking down the street she got the strange desire to try and steal something again. She came upon a booth that looked to be selling a form of dark colored nuts. With her heart beating fast, she walked up to the booth and scanned her eyes over it. Carefully, she looked at the people around her. No one was looking at her. Somehow she knew the right moment to strike. She swiped a small handful of the nuts and kept walking. Swallowing she waited for someone to catch her. It didn't happen. Smiling she brought the nuts to her lips and popped one into her mouth. "Not bad. Crunchy with a bit of a bitter taste."_

 _For a couple hours she wondered through the bazaar until she found herself at the other end of the city. There she found a dock with some ships lined up. She walked down to it. Sitting near the dock was an old man sitting on a stump that looked about to fall asleep. She walked up to him and asked, "Excuse me?"_

 _"Huh?" The man looked up at her._

 _"Could you tell me how I can get off of this island?" Nami asked._

 _"Island?" The old man blinked. "I don't know about an island but you can get off this cluster by ship if you have one."_

 _"Cluster?" Nami asked._

 _"That's what you're standing on," the old man said. "Are you feeling okay, child?" He eyed her. "You're not from around here, are you?"_

 _"Uh, I don't think so," Nami said._

 _"How can you not think so?" the old man asked._

 _"I'm not to sure of that myself," Nami said. "But never mind that. What do I do if I don't have a ship?"_

 _"You might be able to have someone take you somewhere," the old man said. "But it will cost you quite a bit."_

 _"How much, exactly?" Nami asked._

 _"Most ask for a million bits," he said._

 _"A million bits?" Nami sighed. "That's going to take forever. I might as well just steal a ship."_

 _The old man laughed. "I wouldn't try that if I were you. Thievery around here is punishable by hanging."_

 _Nami shivered. "Thanks for the warning."_

 _"Any time," he said._

 _Nami walked away. Coming back to the bazaar she weighed her options. She could just give up on leaving and stay here and find a job, or she could steal her way to freedom. But stealing a ship could mean her death. And a ship was a lot harder to steal than money. "Well, I do seem to have a gift for stealing. I guess I could stay here a while and work my way up to buying a ship. But I'm going to need to blend in a little bit better though. With my coloring I'll stand out too much with everyone's dark skin and hair. And I'll need to hide my gains in something other than my hands."_

 _Finalizing her decision with a nod she walked into the bazaar and found a booth that was selling robes. She picked out a few and stepped into a changing area. Pulling the curtain closed she tried on three different outfits. "Wow. This fabric is really soft. And I feel a lot cooler than I did before."_

 _Changing back into her normal clothes, she stepped out of the changing area._

 _"Did you find anything you like?" a young woman asked._

 _"Not really, but they are very lovely," Nami said. "What is this fabric? It's really soft and cooling."_

 _"I hand made it from the silk of my catermel" the woman said. She walked over to the strange caterpillar like animal Nami saw before and stroked its long nose. "The silk falls off her hair. It makes a wonderful fabric."_

 _Nami took her moment when the woman turned around and tucked one of the robes up her pant leg. She smiled when the woman looked at her. She placed the robs back on the hangers. "I see. Well, I need to get going now."_

 _"Okay. Please come again," the woman said._

 _"I sure will." Nami hurried away. Feeling like she had tested her luck enough for the day, she hurried out of the city and back into the forest. "Well, that was pretty easy. Next I need to find a place I can stay and stash what I manage to gather. Surely the forest will give me somewhere to stay. I didn't see any creepy animals that would cause me problems."_

 _Nami walked through the forest, snacking on the nuts she had left inside of her pocket. She walked for about an hour before finally giving up and sitting down on a log. "What a pain. I haven't found anything. Maybe I could just live in a tree."_

 _With sigh she stood back up. The heel of her shoe caught on a vine, causing her to fall backwards with a startled cry. She fell into the bushes behind her, hitting the ground hard. "Ouch. That hurt."_

 _Rolling over she stood up and came face to face with a small stream. "Wow. I didn't know there was stream in here."_

 _Standing up, she stepped over the stream and kept walking. Her eyes widened when she came upon a cave. She stepped into it. Glowing mushrooms decorated the cave. "Hello?"_

 _Silence replied._

 _"Well, it looks like I found myself a place to hide," Nami said._

Nami twirled her baton. It was a week after she found this cave that she learned her baton could do all sorts of things dealing with the weather. "I guess this place hasn't been all that bad. Still, I'm ready to get out of here. This hot weather is ruining my hair and skin."

…

"What is this place? It's so hot," Neo said lowering them to the island. She scanned her eyes over the buildings in front of her. None of them appeared to be the same in height. It gave the skyline an odd, uneven look.

"It's a desolate cluster," Hoshi said. "A very dismal place. Honestly." He shook his head. "I'll never understand why people want to live in places like this. This heat is going to kill my shiny soft fur."

"Where does the heat come from?" Neo asked.

"From the cluster's core," Hoshi said. "Each cluster has a different climate. Some aren't hospitable at all. Some can be lived on but they cause a lot of hardships to those who live here. We'll probably run into those during our travels. I just hope we don't go to many clusters like this one. I can already feel my fur drying out."

"Don't worry, Hoshi," Neo said. Keeping one crystal out she pulled a light breeze around them. "I can give us a cool breeze."

"I knew I liked you," Hoshi said enjoying the cool breeze that teased his fur.

"So where's the navigator?" Neo asked.

"She's quite a distance from here," Hoshi said. "Maybe we shouldn't have landed just yet."

"No problem." Neo lifted them back into the air. "Just point the way."

"Head towards the center," Hoshi said. "She's in that direction, off to the right a bit."

"Okay." Neo nodded and flew towards the center of the island. Sensing strange animals below she flew low enough to see them. One unparticular caught her eye. It looked like a squiggly line with long brown fur to her. "What is that thing? The shaggy brown thing?"

"Oh, that's a catermel," Hoshi said. "It's one of the creatures that thrives in this hot weather, though I have no idea how with all that fur on it. It also creates a soft, breathable thread that the inhabitants here use to make their clothes."

"I see," Neo said. "Think we can stop and play with it for a while?"  
"You're very childlike," Hoshi said looking up at her.

"I'm sorry." Heat rose on Neo's cheeks. "I don't mean to be."

"You're so cute when you blush." Hoshi smiled. "And it's nothing to be embarrassed about. It suits you."

"Thank you," Neo said.

"We're almost there. Turn to the right a bit," Hoshi said.

Neo followed his direction. She glanced down as he scanned over the treetops.

"There!" Hoshi pointed down to one of the taller trees. "She's down there."

"Okay." Neo lowered them down to the treetops. Feeling out where the branches were at she easily weaved her way through them until she landed on the forest floor.

"She should be right through those red bushes," Hoshi said.

Neo walked forward and pushed between two of the bushes. Sensing the branch on the other side, she ducked down and easily avoided it. Looking back she noticed bells were tied along the ends of the branches. She wondered why they were there but didn't ask.

"She's in that cave," Hoshi said.

"Should we just go in?" Neo asked.

"Why wouldn't me?" Hoshi looked up at her.

"Well, if she's in there it's probably her home," Neo said.

"I guarantee this isn't her home," Hoshi said. "Remember you all are lost and have no memories but for your names."

"Right," Neo said but she didn't move forward.

"Are we going to go in or stand out here all day?" Hoshi asked

"Okay, we're going in," Neo said. With a deep breath she entered into the cave. Her eyes roamed over the glowing mushrooms that lit up her surroundings. She then noticed an orange haired girl laying on the pile of treasure sleeping. "Um…e-excuse me?"

"Huh?" the girl woke up. When she noticed Neo and Hoshi there she jumped to her feet. "What the heck are you doing in here?! How did you even get in here?! My trap should have alerted me to you!" She looked around and grabbed a baton off the floor. "I won't let you take my treasure!"

"W-wait," Neo said taking a step back. "We're not here for your treasure."

"Yeah, right," she said. "You just happened to wonder into my cave by accident. Did that brat Sirius tell you about me? Did he ask you to come here and steal my treasure?"

"Oh, yeah, she's a real charmer," Hoshi said with a roll of his eyes.

Neo could feel him rolling his eyes without having to look.

The girl screamed. "Th-that creature just spoke! How's that possible?!"

"And bright, too." Hoshi swished his tail.

"Shut up! I'm just shocked that's all!" she screamed. "I never heard of an animal speaking before!"

"Actually, you have," Hoshi said. "Two of them actually. Probably even more."

"You're insane!" she said.

"Just shut up and come with us," Hoshi said.

"Hoshi, you're not being very nice," Neo said.

"Well, I did warn you," Hoshi said. "Besides, she's being difficult."

"Let me try," Neo said. She looked over at the girl. "Look, Nami, I know this is going to sound weird but-"

"Wait! How did you know my name?!" Nami asked.

"Because of this." Neo reached into her pocket and pulled out the picture. She held it out to her friend. "Like I was saying, this is going to sound weird, but we're actually friends."

Nami eyed them before taking a couple steps closer.

Neo waited patiently for the orange haired girl to get close enough to look at the picture.

"Take your time, why don't you?" Hoshi grumbled.

"Shut up. It's natural to be a bit cautious," Nami said before looking at the picture.

"You're just trying to save your treasure," Hoshi said.

"Well, duh," Nami said then she hummed. "This is weird. That's me all right, but I don't remember any of those people."

"I know," Neo said. "I don't remember them either." She flipped the picture to show her the back. "But this note says that you're a navigator."

"A navigator?" Nami ran her eyes over the information on the back of the picture. "You're married and you have a child?" She looked back up at Neo. "But you look like a child yourself."

"Yeah, I'm not sure why that is," Neo said. She placed a hand on her stomach. "And I'm pregnant still."

"I see." Nami looked down at Neo's stomach.

"So let's get going already," Hoshi said.

"Sorry, but I don't buy this," Nami said.

"You can't be serious," Hoshi said.

"So what if you have a picture of me? That could be a fake," Nami said.

"A fake?" Hoshi said. "How can it be a fake?!"

"Well, I don't know," Nami said. "Maybe you used magic to create it."

"That's just stupid!" Hoshi's fur stood on its ends.

"Hoshi, please, calm down," Neo said. "Nami, will you at least hear us out?"

"Fine," Nami said. "Tell me what you have to say."

"Basically, I'm on a journey to find everyone in that picture," Hoshi said. "I'm a guardian who was summoned by the girl with the white hair. Her name is Tsuki. I'm unaware of the details that lead up to you all losing your memories but that picture is proof that you all are friends."

"And you just happened to be able to find us two?" Nami asked.

"I can sense you all," Hoshi said. "Or at least when I'm close enough. You two weren't all that far apart from each other. So I went for Neo first and then we came to find you."

"I still don't buy it," Nami said. "I still think you're after my treasure."

"Nami, I can assure you we are not after your treasure," Neo said. "We just want answers. And I'm sure you do too."

"Sorry to burst your bubbles but I have my own plans," Nami said. "And it doesn't involved traveling with a sarcastic…um…what exactly are you? You kind of look like a cat."

"I'm a guardian," Hoshi said. "And I'm here to protect your butts."

"Protect us from what?" Nami asked.

"Kuro," Hoshi said. "He's looking for you all. And when he finds you he's going to kill you."

Nami stared at the creature before busting up laughing. "Oh, you almost had me! That's cute! Funny story, but I don't have time to play with you two right now."

"It's true," Hoshi said.

"Sure thing," Nami said shooed them out of her cave. "Get out of here now. I have work to do. And don't try and steal my treasure."

Neo summoned her a wind crystal and lifted Nami into the air.

"What the heck?! How are you able to do this?!" Nami asked. "Put me down!"

"I can't do that, Nami," Neo said. "You have to believe us." She showed her the picture again. "We need to find our friends. Please, come with us."

 **FanficReader1212: Don't worry. We still have chapters left. I'm just being a bit lazy in getting them out.**

 **Sarge1130: Hm, you're right. There are some similarities between the stories. I guess well see if Hoshi has another form or not.**


	8. Circumpolar Compass

Circumpolar Compass

"Let me go at once!" Nami hissed. She kicked and flailed in a desperate attempt to get away from the winds that surrounded her. Tightening her hold on her baton she swung it at Neo. Lightning crackled as it flew towards her targets.

Neo calmly blinked and guided the attack away from her and Hoshi with a small flick of her hand.

Hoshi hissed. His fur stood on its ends. "Hey! Watch it where you point that thing! My fur could have been singed!"

"How…how did you do that?" Nami asked.

"I'm not really sure how," Neo said. "I'm a part of nature apparently. Look I know this is confusing. I feel the same way. I have no idea of who I am or where I came from." Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. "And I've seen this guy that I'm holding onto in my dreams. I need to find him. I can't explain why, maybe it's because of the information on the back of this picture, but I need to be with him. I need to know who I am and where I come from. Don't you want that too? Aren't you tired and scared of not knowing who you are and where you came from? Aren't you lonely living here with no memories but for your name?"

Nami sighed. "I am."

"Then join us and lets figure this out together," Neo said. "Please, Nami?"

Nami stared into Neo's eyes, finding them a shocking electric blue full of tears. Her will to deny them was crumbling fast. She sighed. "Fine. I'll join you."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Hoshi asked.

"Hoshi, she's telling the truth." Neo lowered Nami down to her feet.

"I don't trust her," Hoshi said. "She already tried to attack us once."

"I'm not going to do that again," Nami said.

Hoshi scoffed.

"Aren't you the charming one," Nami said.

"At least I'm not a thief," Hoshi said.

"What did you say?!" Nami demanded.

"You heard me!" Hoshi said.

"Okay, okay," Neo said. "That's enough. We need to get out of here."

"Fine," Nami and Hoshi said while sharing a glare.

"But I don't have enough bits and treasure to buy a ship yet," Nami said.

"I could fly us out of here with my winds," Neo said.

"And how much of that do you have?" Nami asked. "I mean how strong are you with that magic of yours?"

"I have no idea," Neo said. "Memory loss, remember?"  
"It's not a good idea for you to fly us around anyway," Nami said. "We have no idea how much wind power or whatever you can use. We might end up sinking in the sea if you lose that ability of yours. We need a ship."

"At least you can think logically," Hoshi said.

"Shut up or we'll leave you behind," Nami said.

"No you won't," Hoshi said with a grin. "You need me to help find your friends. I'm the only one who can smell you all."

"Smell us?" Nami asked.

"You all smell different from the people who live her," Hoshi said. "You smell like the sun or something. It's kind of difficult to explain. However the smell can get interrupted by other scents so you can't rely on me to find you all. But you can search for your friends by using the circumpolar compass."

"The what?" Nami asked.

"This." Hoshi's eyes started glowing. A beam shot out and stopped in front of Nami.

"What is this?" Nami held up her hands as the beam formed into a star shaped object. It landed in her hands.

"It's called a circumpolar compass," Hoshi said. " You wear it over your eye so you can see the stardust that each cluster gives off. Each cluster has a different stardust color that can tell us what the cluster is like. It also shows particles that release for each different type of storms that can happen on the Star Line. Anyone can use it but it works best for those who have navigational skills."

"I have navigational skills?" Nami asked.

"That's what the picture says," Hoshi said. "So we need you to find the rest of your friends."

"Okay, if you say so," Nami said holding up the compass between her fingers.

"It'll make more sense when we head out to sea and you start using it," Hoshi said.

"So what do we do now?" Neo asked.

"We just wait for me to steal enough treasure and bits to get us a ship," Nami said. "Unless you want to fly a ship out of here. Can you do that?"  
"I'm not really sure," Neo said. "But I won't steal something that belongs to someone else."

"How have you managed to survive until now?" Nami asked.

"What do you mean?" Neo asked.

"How have you survived here?" Nami sat down. "Where did you get money to buy food? You have to eat. Did you manage to get a job or something?"

"Oh, I didn't," Neo said sitting down in front of Nami. "I used my crystals to create fruits and vegetables to eat."

"You can do that?" Nami asked.

"I can." Neo summoned one of each of her crystals. "Each on of these controls an element. I've been using them since I woke up a few days ago."

"Amazing." Nami reached out and stroked one of the crystals.

Hoshi swiped his claws, nailing Nami on her hand.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" Nami rubbed her hand.

"Don't touch her or her crystals, thief!" Hoshi said.

"You little rat!" Nami growled.

"It's fine," Neo said. She stroked Hoshi down his head and back a couple of times. "She can't steal them anyway. They're a part of me." She looked back at Nami. "Would you like something to eat? I think I can make more of those fruits you're eating."

"I'm actually getting sick of eating fruit," Nami said. "What I'd really like is some potatoes."

"I think I can do that," Neo said. Leaving only her earth crystal out, she beamed its glow down and potatoes sprouted out of the glow. Summoning her wind crystals she pulled in some broken branches from outside. She placed them in a pile then used a fire crystal to light the wood.

"Wow," Nami said as the fire flared up. Heat washed over their skin. "You're amazing."

"Th-thank you." Heat rushed to Neo's face from the compliment.

Nami reached down and grabbed a stick. "Do you think you can sharpen the end to a point?"

Neo nodded and did as requested.

"Truly amazing." Nami poked a potato on the stick and placed it over the fire. "So what all can you remember?"  
"Just every day things like what a tree is, what the sky is, plants," Neo said. "But anything really related to myself I can't remember. I was able to sense these crystals inside of me. Using them was just natural but I don't know or remember what they can or can't do."

"Just like my stealing," Nami said. "It's odd."

"What's odd?" Neo asked placed more potatoes on sticks. She stuck the other ends into the ground and watched them cook.

"I could be wrong but I think that our instincts have helped us survive even though we don't have our memories," Nami said.

"I don't understand," Neo said looking back up at Nami.

"I'm not sure how to make it anymore clearer, but when I was walking through the bazaar the first day I came here I just automatically stole a piece of fruit because I was so hungry. At first I thought I was going to get caught but I didn't. Then I continued to steal and found myself here. It was like a completely different person had taken control over my body and helped me survive. Now you two show up and show me a picture that tells us that I am a thief. Or a former one."

"I think that makes sense," Hoshi said. "Your memories might be able to be taken away in one way or another but no one can steal your instincts. Or not that I've ever heard of."

"Then that would mean our friends in that picture should be able to survive on their instincts too," Neo said.

"Sounds plausible," Hoshi said. He jumped of Neo's lap and sat beside her on the ground.

"I hope you're right," Neo said.

"Just be patient a little bit longer," Hoshi said. "So, thief, how much money do you have?"  
"My name is Nami," Nami said. "I have about 950,000. I need a million to get a ship."

"That's still a lot," Hoshi said.

"I'm doing the best I can," Nami said. "It's only been me up until now."

"I'm sorry I can't do anything to help," Neo said. Reaching for the potatoes, she turned them all around so they could heat on the other side. Then she used her earth crystals again to create leaf plates and grew some herbs. Unaware that Nami and Hoshi were watching her closely, she continued to use her crystals to lift the hot potatoes off the fire, cut them up, and then sprinkle a few different herbs over them. She then took one of the leaf plates and handed it over to Nami with a fork she made from a stick. "Here I think this should be done."

"Thank you." Nami took the plate.

Neo then placed a plate down for Hoshi and picked up her own.

"Wow! This is so yummy!" Nami said after taking a bit of the potatoes. "It's a lot better than the fruit I've been eating! Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome," Neo said as heat rushed back to her cheeks.

"Don't worry about it. You've done plenty right now in making me this dish," Nami said. "We all have our skills. I'll do what I can to get the rest as soon as I can. And yours will clearly come in handy while we're searching for these so called friends of ours. Until then all we can do is wait."

Neo nodded despite not liking the idea of sitting around doing nothing.

"Also it might be best for you to just wait here when I go back into the bazaar," Nami said.

"Why's that?" Neo asked.

"All the people here have dark skin and hair," Nami said. "With our coloring we stick out far too much. And you would definitely attract attention with your blue hair and eyes. I can pick you up a robe so you can occasionally go into the bazaar if you want. But if you do we shouldn't been seen together. That way I'm less likely to get caught."

"I understand," Neo said. "I'll do what I must to help where I can."

"You're kind of submissive," Nami said.

"Is that a bad thing?" Neo asked.

"No, I think it's just a part of who you are," Nami said. "Or I think so. Once we get our memories back we'll know for sure."

"I hope it doesn't take too long," Neo said. "I don't like feeling like I don't know who I am."

"Yeah." Nami nodded. Silence fell over the three as they continued to eat their potatoes.

…

"This is so boring," Hoshi said as he sprawled out on the ground of the cave. "How much longer do we have to stay in this place?"

"I'm sorry, Hoshi," Neo said.

"It's not your fault," Hoshi said. "It's that blasted thief's fault."

"Hey! I heard that!" Nami walked into the cave. She planted her hands on her hips and glared at the creature. "You're so pathetic!"

"Shut up! I'm not meant to just sit around and do nothing when I'm awake," Hoshi said. "Did you at least get more jewels and bits?"

"I got some but we're still short a couple thousand," Nami said. She walked over to the pile of her treasure and emptied her pockets. The jewels clanked together before going silent.

"I'm sorry," Neo said again. "If I knew more about myself I could probably just build us a ship. But I have no knowledge of how that's done. Or none that I remember."

"It's all right," Nami said. "We'll get out of here soon enough. Tomorrow's a new day. Why don't you go into the bazaar for a while and get out of this cave? You've been locked up in here for four days."

"Maybe that's not such a bad idea," Neo said. "We could go to the library or just walk around and interact with the people."

"Yeah!" Nami nodded. "Stretch your legs for a while. We'll be out of here in no time."

"You've been saying that nonstop for the past four days," Hoshi said.

"Then get off your lazy tail and help me," Nami said. She leaned closer to Hoshi and poked him in the head. "All you've been doing is sitting around and forcing Neo to pet you. You're nothing but a lazy cat."

"I'm a guardian not a cat. And I haven't been forcing her to do anything," Hoshi said then smirked. "She pets me because she wants to."

"You're impossible." Nami straightened up with a frustrated huff.

"How about I make us something to eat?" Neo asked.

"Sounds great to me," Nami and Hoshi said then glared at each other for saying the same thing.

Neo laughed, her bells echoed through the cave.

"I still find it hard to believe that your laughter has bells in it," Nami said as she sat down near the fire. "It's amazing."

"I wish I could remember why I have them," Neo said. "I hope it's nothing bad."

"Nothing bad could come out of something so beautiful," Hoshi said.

"You're too much," Neo said. "How about I make us some sesame green bean salad?"

"Sounds great to me," Nami said.

"If that's what you want to make I'm all for it," Hoshi said.

Neo set to work on making the salad for them. While doing so she noticed that Nami was sitting too quietly and seemed distracted by something. "Hey, Nami, are you okay?"

"Why do you asked?" Nami glanced over the fire at Neo.

"You seem distracted a bit," Neo said. "Something wrong?"  
"Nothing," Name said. She paused then added, "Well, honestly, I'm a bit concerned about someone."

"You?!" Hoshi gasped. "You're concerned about someone other than yourself?!"

"Shut up!" Nami snapped.

"Want to talk about it?" Neo asked.

"Well, a few days after I started stealing things here these two boys noticed and started following me around," Nami said. "Admittedly, I used them to help get more treasure."

"No surprise," Hoshi said.

"Hoshi, please," Neo said. "Continue, Nami."

"Well, one of them got caught a few days ago," Nami said. "I figured he was taken back to his family since he and his friend were runaways. Anyway, I haven't seen the oldest of the two for a while now. I'm just worried that something bad might have happened to him since they were copying me and my stealing habits."

"Maybe he went home?" Neo offered.

"I hope so," Nami said. "The penalty here for stealing is rather severe."

"A lot of things in the Star Line are severe," Hoshi said. "You're going to have to be more careful in your actions once we leave this island." He gave Nami a pointed look. "And that means no more stealing."

"I'll do what I think is necessary to survive, mouse breath!" Nami said.

"I don't eat mice! They're disgusting!" Hoshi said.

Neo sighed as her two friends continued to argue like they seem to always do. Before long the smell of her freshly made salad filled the cave and brought the arguing duo to temporary cease-fire so they could eat. As they were eating the weather cooled around them and rain started beating down on the leaves outside of their temporary home.

"Well, looks like that's it for the bazaar today," Nami said. "Hopefully it'll stop by tomorrow."

"I'm sure it will," Neo said.

"With or without your tampering with it?" Hoshi smiled.

The two girls laughed. Neo would push the clouds away if it meant they could leave soon her. She said, "Well, we'll have to see. I know this place needs rain but we need to leave."

"Don't worry, Neo," Nami said lying down. "We will."

Neo sat back against the cave wall and listened to the rain until she grew tired. Lying down she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

 _"Where am I?" Neo asked as she appeared on the deck of a ship. It seemed to be void of people but it wasn't. She could sense him near her. Law was somewhere on this ship. But she couldn't figure out where he was. His presence seemed to be all over. "Hello? Um, Law? Are you here? Where is everyone?"_

 _"It's going as planned," a voice said._

 _"Huh?" Neo turned to find no one around._

 _"How much longer?" another voice asked._

 _"Not too much," the first voice said. "I don't think we completely have their trust. At least the trust of the doctor."_

 _Neo's heart skipped a beat. The picture said Law was a doctor. She wondered if these two voices where talking about him._

 _"What about the other one?" the second voice asked._

 _"He's an idiot," the first voice said. "If we told him to go jump in a black hole he probably would do it if we told him it was going to be fun."_

 _"He really is an idiot," the second voice said. "But I find him rather an enjoyable entertainment. I'm actually going to miss him. And the doctor as well. Are you sure we should do this?"_

 _"Are you questioning the boss?" the first one asked._

 _"Of course not," the second one said. "I just think it's a waste. His skills as a doctor are amazing."_

 _"I have to agree on that," the first one said. "But if we don't do as we're instructed then it'll be our heads the boss has on his wall. These two are ridiculously strong. That's why we have to deal with them. And we only have a limited amount of time to do that."_

 _"No," Neo said. Her heart hammered in her chest. She had to find him. Looking around the deck her eyes wandered up a set of stairs and to a door on the next level up. Law's presence appeared to be stronger behind that door. So she ran over to and then up the stairs, somehow passing through the door. She paused. His back was to her but it was him. He was sitting at a desk, hunkered down over a book. Her hands shook and became sweaty. She opened her mouth but nothing came. Her heart skipped a beat when he whipped around suddenly, his steel eyes landing on hers. "Uh…"_

 _"How did you…" he started but paused. A look of confusion took over his eyes as he studied her. "But you're not…how are you here?"_

 _"What?" Neo asked._

 _"How can you possibly be here?" Law stood up and walked over to her._

 _"I don't know," she said. "But you can't stay here. You have to get off this ship."_

 _"What are you talking about?" Law asked._

 _"You're in danger," Neo said._

 _"Danger?" Law asked._

 _"I don't know how I know I just do," Neo said. "You're in danger from someone on this ship. Please, you have to get off of it and don't come back to it."_

 _"I can't do that," Law said._

 _"Why not?!" Neo asked. She grabbed a hold of his sleeve. The image of them in the picture flashed through her mind. She remembered this man was supposed to be her husband. She released him and jerked her hand back. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you. Though I can't really say why here."_

 _"Who are you?" Law asked._

 _Tears gathered at the corner of Neo's eyes. "I'm not really sure. But my name is Neo."_

 _"Don't cry, Neo." Law brushed the tears away from her cheeks. "There's nothing for you cry over. I'm fine right where I am."_

 _"No, you're not," Neo said. "You're in danger and you need to leave. Please. I'm begging you."_

 _Law sighed. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out._

 _"What? What did you say?" Neo asked. She gasped when she found Law was fading away from her. "No! No, you can't leave!"_

 _Laughter sounded out around her. A splash of red came from Law's chest. She gasped. Her stomach lurched upon seeing the end of a blade from a sword sticking out of his chest. Her eyes wondered from the blade and up to his eyes. Blood was dripping down his chin, his eyes full of shock before fading to a lifeless grey. "No! No, Law!_ No, you can't! You can't die on me! Law!"

"Neo, wake up! Come on! Please, wake up! You're having a bad dream!"

Neo gasped. Sitting up she panted and looked around the cave. "He's dead. He's head."

"Calm down," Nami said tightening her grip on Neo's shoulders. "It's all right. No one's dead."

"Yes, he is," Neo said. "He's going to die. They're going to kill him."

"Kill who?" Nami asked.

"Law!" Neo said, tears pouring down her cheeks. "We have to get out of here! We have to save him before it's too late!"

"Neo, just calm down," Nami said. "It was just a bad dream, a nightmare."

"No, not it wasn't." Neo locked eyes with her friend. "I can't explain it but I can feel it. Law's in trouble. He's life is in danger. We have to leave this place now."

"Hm." Hoshi hummed. "I think Neo might be right."

"How can you say that over a nightmare?" Nami asked.

"Mostly it's just a feeling," Hoshi said. "But she had another dream about him before she woke up."

"Give me a break," Nami said. "Dreams and nightmares don't mean anything."

"They do if you have a close enough bond with someone," Hoshi said. "And Neo and Law are suppose to be married and having a baby. Neo could he sensing that his life is in danger. And, technically, we all are."

"Okay, I think I can understand it when you put it that way. But we still don't have enough for a ship," Nami said. "We can't leave yet."

"Then…we have to accelerate our plan," Neo said through her pants.

"And what do you mean by that?" Nami asked.

"I'm…I'm going to help you steal," Neo said locking eyes with Nami.

"I highly doubt you have experience in stealing," Nami said. "But despite that you're too innocent to steal. You said before that you couldn't do it."

"I know," Neo said. She gripped her shirt over her heart. Her entire body shook from her nightmare as tears flowed down her cheeks. "But I have to. I can't explain it but I need to find him. I have to save him. We can't die like this. Not here. Not now."

"We?" Nami asked.

"Huh?"

"You said _we_ can't die like this," Nami said.

"I did?" Neo tilted her head thinking of her words. "I did. Then I have made up my mind. I'm going to help you. We have to get to him. Whoever was talking in my nightmare is also going to kill someone else. I'm not sure who they were talking about but I have a feeling it might be one of our friends in the picture. Please, Nami, we have to get out of here as soon as we can."

Hoshi then started sniffing the air.

"What now?" Nami asked.

"I can smell the sun," Hoshi said. "Neo might be right in all of this. One of your friends is getting closer. If we don't leave soon we might not be able to find them in time."

Nami then sighed. "All right. I don't like it but if you really insist on doing this then we have no choice."

Neo nodded.

"Though I'm not sure how well this is going to work out with the state you're currently in," Nami said as she eyed Neo's still trembling body.

"I'm sorry," Neo said. "I can't seem to stop shaking. That nightmare really messed me up."

"Try not to worry about it," Hoshi said. "I'm here for you."

"As am I," Nami said.

"Thank you," Neo said.

"We should fuel up for the day then head on out if you really think you're ready to handle this," Nami said.

"I am." Neo nodded before she moved to get breakfast ready. They all ended up just eating fruit she grew. Then she dressed in the light brown robe that Nami had brought for her. Tucking her hair inside of the hood she stood ready to go. "I'm ready."

Nami exhaled, her eyes filled with concern over Neo.

"It's fine, Nami," Neo said. "While I hate the idea of stealing what doesn't belong to us, I hate the idea of losing Law even more." She placed her hand on her stomach. "I can't explain how much I really need to be with him, how much _we_ need to be with him."

"It's fine," Nami said. "I'm sure we'll figure out the why eventually."

Hoshi jumped up on Neo's shoulder. "If you're really ready then let's go."

Neo nodded.

Nami turned and lead them out of the cave. She continued to follow them until they got to the edge of the forest. They stepped out of the forest.

"That's her!" someone said. "She's the one who's been stealing from everyone!"

"Oh crap!" Nami cursed when they noticed they were surrounded by at least forty people holding guns at them.

"Just great!" Hoshi said.

"That's her, flic, sir," a boy said.

"Are you sure, Sirius?" the flic asked.

"Yes, sir," the boy said. "I guarantee she's the one who's been stealing. She's also the one who threatened me and Vega into stealing for her."

"Friend of yours?" Hoshi asked.

"You little brat!" Nami said to the boy. "How could you betray me like that?! After everything that I've done for you!"

"You've done nothing for me but cheat me!" Sirius said. "You left me and Vega behind to pay for what you have done!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Hoshi said.

"Shut up! No one asked you anything!" Nami said to Hoshi.

"She's hiding all the stuff she's stolen inside of the forest somewhere," Sirius said. "She never let me or Vega followed her into it so I know its there somewhere."

"Then find it!" The flic pointed to the forest. The rest of the authorities nodded and headed into the forest.

"No you don't!" Nami pulled out her baton. Before she could use it one of the flics fired their gun at her. A glowing purple rope shot out and wrapped around her body. "What's going on? I can't move!"

"Those are paralyzing ropes," the flic said. "You are unable to move as long as they are around your body."

"Just great," Nami said.

"Now, you young lady," the flic said turning his attention to Neo. "Are you an accomplice of hers or are you being used like this young boy was?"

"Oh great," Neo whispered. "What do we do?"

"We have to get my treasure!" Nami said. "Don't let them take my treasure!"  
"Figures you'd be more worried about that than your life," Hoshi said.

"What did you say?!" Nami growled.

"Please, this is no time to argue," Neo said. "We have to do something."

"Save my treasure!"

"Just fly us out of here," Hoshi said.

"What?!" Nami demanded.

"Look, we're in over our heads here," Hoshi said. "If Neo gets one of those ropes around her then we're done for."

"So what do we do then?" Neo asked.

"We're just going to have to steal a ship right away," Hoshi said. "Fly us away from here and to the docks."

"Okay." Neo summoned her wind crystals.

"Hold it!" the flic said while everyone aimed their guns at her. "Don't move!"

"Go now!" Hoshi said.

Neo lifted up a strong gale. It knocked the authorities off their feet while lifting herself and her friends in the air.

"Now get this thing off of me," Nami said.

"Just press that spot on the back that's not glowing," Hoshi said. "It'll release the rope."

Neo moved closer to Nami and did as she was told. Spotting the spot she pressed it and the ropes fell to the ground.

"Yeah! Thanks!" Nami said stretching out her body. "But we have to go back for my treasure!"

"Don't be stupid!" Hoshi said. "It doesn't belong to you anyway! Wait! Neo, you can just send _her_ back! We're leaving without her!"

"Fine!" Nami said. "I'll let it go this time! But you're going to pay for this later! The docks are that way!"

Neo angled them to their right and headed for the docks. Flying over them they scanned over the ships. "Which one are we taking?"

"One of the smaller ones since there's only two of you to guide it," Hoshi said. "If we need a bigger one we'll get one later."

"That one." Nami pointed to one of the smaller ships.

Neo lowered them to it. Landing on the deck two men stepped out of the door.

"Hey, who are you?" one asked.

"I'm so sorry about this," Neo said.

"I'm not." Nami swung her baton at them, knocking them out with a bolt of lightning.

"You didn't have to do that," Neo said. "I could have just tied them up."

Nami shrugged. "You can do that now."

Neo summoned an earth crystal and wrapped a vine around them before placing them on the docks. She noticed several men running towards them. "We have company."

"Hold them back!" Nami said. "It's going to take me a minute to get everything ready!"

"Okay." Neo pushed her gale towards the men, forcing them back.

"Come back here, you thieves!" one yelled over the wind.

"Hey! Only one of us is a thief!" Hoshi yelled back.

"Shut up! Now is not the time to argue with them!" Nami said as she unfurled the sails. "Besides all three of us are trying to steal this ship! So we are thieves!"

"We're just being pulled along with you," Hoshi said.

"What?! You're the one who said to steal a ship!" Nami said.

"Out of necessity!" Hoshi said.

"You're impossible!" Nami said.

"Just get going already!" Hoshi said.

"We need the anchor pulled up!" Nami said as she descended back to the deck. "Neo, can you do that and hold them at bay?"

"I think so!" Neo said. She dived up her winds and wrapped a stream around the chain to the anchor. Placing it on the deck and filled the sails with her wind.

"Woohoo! Hold on!" Nami spun the helm. "We are officially out of here!"


	9. Astro Unit

Astro Unit

"This is amazing!" Nami laughed from the helm.

"I can't believe I just did that," Neo said holding her stomach. Her body trembled from the anxiety of stealing a ship. "I think I'm going to…" Her stomach lurched. She rushed over to the side of the ship. Leaning over she heaved.

"Poor baby," Hoshi said rubbing his paw on her head. "You really are innocent."

"Well, that's it," Nami said walking down the stairs. "We are finally away from that island." She walked over to Neo. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Neo nodded. "I'll be fine."

"Good," Nami said. "Hopefully none of us will get sick since we don't have a doctor on board."

"Then we need to hurry and get to your friends," Hoshi said. "Two of them are doctors. This Law character we're going after is one of them. So we won't be without a doctor for long."

"We'll be fine I'm sure," Nami said.

"Just put on the compass," Hoshi said.

"So how does this thing work again?" Nami asked. She lifted the compass to her eyes.

"Just put it over your eye and look for the stardust," Hoshi said. "You should be able to see your friends star trail among the islands dust."

"Let's see." Nami put the item over her eye. She gasped.

"What is it, Nami?" Neo asked.

"I can see a whole lot of small sparkling things," Nami said. "The brightest one is white. There are some lighter colors and very faint. There's a blue one, a yellow one, a green one, a brown one…"

"Those are the stardust trails I told you about," Hoshi said. "The brightest one is from the cluster we just came off of. The others belong to clusters in the area."

"So how do I find our friends whatever?" Nami looked around.

"Look for stardust that looks more like a ribbon," Hoshi said.

"A ribbon?" Nami asked. "I don't see anything that remotely resembles a ribbon."

"We might not be close enough for you to see it," Hoshi said. "I can still smell them. A person's scent travels on the air but trails do not."

"Are we still heading in the right direction?" Neo asked.

"We are." Hoshi nodded. "I'll do what I can to help get you to your friends. But the navigator will have to take over soon."

"I'll keep checking for the trails as we go along," Nami said. "For now we might as well explore the ship and see what we have."

"Wow. The thief had a good idea," Hoshi said.

"Shut up," Nami said.

Neo looked around. There were two doors on the main deck. One was under the helm and the other one was opposite of that. One level up was another door that also sat under the helm. "Where do you want to start?"

"Might as well start right here," Nami said walking over to the door opposite from the helm.

Neo followed her. The hinges creaked upon opening the door. She stepped inside with Nami. Maps were scattered over a table and desk. Three bookshelves were stuffed full of books and line on the back wall. "What is this place?"

"I'm not really sure," Nami said. "But something about it feels a bit familiar."

"It's the navigation room," Hoshi said. "And considering the information we have on you then it should be clear as to why you feel familiarity in here."

Nami walked up to the table. She picked up a map and looked at it.

"Can you read it?" Neo asked.

"I'm not sure," Nami said. She laid it back down. "I'll work with it later. Let's check out the other rooms."

Neo led them back outside. They walked over to the door opposite from where they were. Entering into it they found it was the kitchen. A square table sat in the room while a counter, stove, sink, and fridge, lined the left side of the room. They peaked through the cabinets and fridge.

"Looks like we have enough to last for a while," Nami said peaking into the pantry. "They must have stocked up at some time before we took the ship."

"I hope they have money with them," Neo said. "I wouldn't want them to starve."

"Leave it to you to be worried about strangers." Nami closed the pantry. She noticed an opening in the floor in the corner of the room. She walked over to it and found a ramp. "They must use this to go downstairs. I wonder why a ramp though."

The small group of three followed it. Once they reached the bottom they found a trolley and a few rooms. Hoshi said, "I guess that explains the ramp. They must use it to move crates down here."

"There's a ladder at the other end." Neo walked over to it and looked up.

"It must lead to the deck," Hoshi said. "I bet some of these rooms are for the crew. Then that one room on the top deck that we haven't looked at yet is probably for the captain."

Nami peeked into a room then another one. "Hey! There's some treasure in this room!"

"Of course you'd be the one to find that," Hoshi said.

"Hey! It's a good thing! We might need to buy supplies for the ship if it gets damaged!" Nami said closing the door. "We better get back up to the deck."

Neo nodded. She followed Nami back up the ramp and out onto the deck. They checked the last room, finding it was the captain's quarters before heading up to the helm. Nami took control of it and placed the compass back over her eye.

A couple hour passed by before Nami spoke up. She said, "Hey, I see that ribbon thing you were talking about. There are two them."

"Then those are your two friends I sensed before," Hoshi said.

"How long before we get to them?" Neo asked.

"Depends on the wind." Hoshi looked up to the sails. They were barely full with any wind. "With your control over wind we can easily catch up to them but it's still going to take a few days most likely."

"Would you two like me to cook something? then" Neo asked. "It's been a while since we've eaten anything."

"If you feel up to it," Nami said. "But don't put yourself out. You need to take care of yourself and your baby."

"I'm okay." Neo nodded. "But I would like a snack." She placed her hand over her stomach. "I think baby's hungry too."

"Okay. Take it easy. I'll stay out here and keep the ship on track until it's ready," Nami said.

"I'll keep you company," Hoshi said.

"Then let's go see what we can make," Neo said. She headed for the stairs and entered into the kitchen. Going through the cabinets again she found a couple cookbooks. After flipping through them she decided to make them some onigiri with some fresh fruit. After gathering all the ingredients Hoshi jumped onto the counter so she could work without him on her shoulders. Finishing up the onigiri, she made them some tea, placed it all on a tray, and headed back to the helm. "It's ready. I hope you like onigiri."

"Not sure," Nami said. "But while you were gone I found a couple chairs and a small table."

Neo placed the tray down on the table near the helm.

"You feeling okay? You don't look so good." Nami grabbed an onigiri.

"That nightmare really shook me up. I don't feel like myself anymore," Neo said sitting down.

"I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do for you," Nami said.

"Maybe I'll be fine after a good night's sleep," Neo said.

"Maybe." Nami nodded before taking a bite of her food. "Hey! This is really good!"

"Reluctantly, I agree with the thief," Hoshi said before licking some rice off his paw.

"Thank you," Neo said. "I'm not sure how I did it. I just did by following the recipe."

"Maybe you are your crew's cook?" Nami suggested. "Or you have to be to be able to cook this good."

"Maybe," Neo said. "But the picture didn't say anything about that."

"You could still be a cook," Nami said. "That picture isn't big enough to put our entire lives on it."

"That's true," Neo said before something hit the ship. They all grabbed onto something to stabilize themselves.

"What the heck was that?!" Nami asked before something else hit the ship, rocking it for a second time.

Hoshi leaped off the table and ran over to the railing. Leaping up on it he gasped. "Crap! It's an Astro Unit!"

"A what?" Nami asked.

"Minions that work for Kuro! They must have been in the area when we stole this ship!" Hoshi said. "They probably saw us leaving that cluster!"

The ship rocked again.

"What do we do?!" Nami asked.

"Let's try and out run them! But if that doesn't work we'll have to fight!" Hoshi said.

"Just great!" Nami said.

Neo summoned her wind crystals. Pulling a gale from the air, she filled the sails. They billowed out and the ship picked up speed.

"In coming!" Nami shouted.

Neo looked up to see three people, holding crystal spears, were sailing through the air. They landed on the deck of the ship.

"Crap! Get ready to fight!" Hoshi shouted.

"This is just great!" Nami twirled her baton.

Neo stood ready with her crystals surrounding her.

The three intruders charged at them. They split up and divided into one on one battles.

Neo leaped her right when guy attacking her thrust his spear at her. The spear split open her skin on her upper left arm. She winced at the pain before slamming a gust of wind down on the man, pinning him against the ship.

"They haven't said a word!" Nami said dodging the spear that was thrust at her.

"They don't usually!" Hoshi said dodging his own spear. "They know mostly to obey and only speak when necessary!"

The three Astro Units leaped back, the one escaping Neo's winds. Their spears sparkled and cracked with energy.

"What's going on?" Nami asked.

"They have been giving multiple star flakes from Kuro!" Hoshi said. "And they can use more that one at a time!"

"That's just great!" Nami said just before her body, Hoshi, and Neo's was lifted off the ground by some unseen force. "What the heck just happened?! I can't get down!"

"It's a gravitational trick. It deletes the gravitation around a person's body, rendering them incapable of escaping," Hoshi said running in the air.

"Maybe for a normal person," Neo said. She gathered winds around them and pulled them away from the gravitational field.

"Way to go, Neo!" Nami said as they landed on the deck.

Before Neo could respond an electrical attack hit her. She screamed and dropped to her knees.

"Neo!" Nami knelt down beside her.

"L-look out!" Neo said.

Nami looked up to see several meteors flying at them.

"I've got no choice," Hoshi said. His body started to glow. Leaping into the air, his body shifted into a human shape but still kept his guardian features. He landed between the Astro Units and Nami and Neo and blocked the meteors with an invisible shield.

"Hoshi!" Neo said.

"What happened to him? He's human. Or looks human," Nami said.

"This is my battle form," Hoshi said before charging at the three intruders. He swiped his now four inch long claws at the men, slicing open their uniforms. One man sliced his spear on Hoshi's side. Blood splattered onto the floor. "Grab their spears!"

Neo snapped out three vines. She wrapped them around the spears and yanked them from the Astro Unit's hands then tossed them into the sea. She then wrapped her vines around their bodies. With a hard push of her winds, she flung them towards their own ship then focused on getting them out of there. She pushed wind into their sails while pushing the other ship away from them. Within a few minutes they were miles away from the Astro Unit. Despite the tiredness gathering in her body, she turned and ran over to Hoshi, picking him up and sat him on her lap. The cut on his side was deep. Blood seeped out of the wound. Tears burned her eyes. "Hoshi, what do we do?! You're hurt!"

"You're bleeding," Nami said. "I'll get the first aid kit! Surely they have one somewhere!" She pushed up to her feet but paused when another crystal, a bigger one, appeared beside Neo. "What the heck is that?"  
"Huh?" Neo turned her eyes to the crystal. It's glow spread out over the cut on her arm and the one on Hoshi.

"It's…it's your solar crystal." Hoshi winced. "Remember you have it."

"And it heals!" Neo said. "You're going to be okay!"

"Looks like it," Hoshi said. "I feel a little better already."

"I'm so glad!" Neo hugged him carefully. "I'm so glad you're okay."

…

"Huh?" Law flinched when pain shot across his arm. The book he held fell from his hands and landed on the desk with a thud. Rolling up his sleeve he looked but found nothing there. "That's odd." The stinging remained as a bad feeling washed over him. He kneaded his eyebrows in worry. He had felt off about her all day. But now he was even more worried about her. Something was happening. "She's in trouble."

Standing up he headed for the door. But before he could touch the knob, the bad feeling disappeared as quickly as it came. He sighed, hoping she was okay and safe now. Turning around he started to go back to his desk when he heard someone out on the deck shouting something incoherent. Opening the door he stepped out to see that Luffy was trying to steer the ship. "What's that idiot doing now?"

"Will you let that go?! If you don't stop it your going to run us into the reef!" a pirate said.

"What are you talking about? There's nothing around here," Luffy said.

"It's under the surface of the sea, you idiot!" the man screamed.

"Really?" Luffy looked out to the sea. "I don't see anything."

"You're such an idiot!" The man punched Luffy over the head. "I said it's underwater!"

"Hey! What was that for?!" Luffy asked. "I was just trying to help!"

"I don't need your help! Now go away!"

Law didn't wait for the conclusion of this fight. He walked back into his room, closed the door, walked over to the desk, and sat down. He didn't pick the book back up. Instead he just sat there, wishing he could contact her somehow so he could ask her what happened. Sitting there his eyes started to become heavy. His body sunk down in his chair. He crossed his arms over the desk, rested his head on them, and fell asleep.

…

Neo yawned as her solar crystal finished healing them and faded away. "Looks like we're fine."

"I'm glad," Nami said. "I was really worried there."

"So am I," Hoshi said. "That was way too close for comfort."

"So what was that?" Nami asked.

"That was my ultimate form," Hoshi said. "I use it for fighting. But it really drains my magic and energy. So I only have a few minutes in that form before I revert back to my normal self. I won't be able to turn back into that form for two weeks now."

"Two weeks? I hope we get to our friends before then," Nami said. "I'm not sure we can stand up to those Astro Unit guys by ourselves."

"They were scary," Neo said before yawning again. "I'm sleepy."

"You should rest," Nami said. "Why don't you go to sleep in the captain's quarters? I can change the sheets for you. You'll need some clean ones."

"I'd rather just sleep right here," Neo said.

"If you really want to," Nami said.

"I do. It's nice and warm." Neo nodded, laid down, and instantly fell asleep.

"She was really sleepy," Nami said.

Hoshi nodded.

"I'm going to find her a pillow and a blanket. Stay with her." Nami got up and disappeared into the ship for a few minutes before coming back with a blanket and a pillow under her arm. "We're in luck. The owners of this ship kept things clean."

"Good," Hoshi said.

Nami placed the pillow underneath Neo's head before placing the blanket over her. After making sure her blue haired friend was tucked in, she headed back up to the helm, leaving Neo to sleep, and Hoshi to watch over her.

…

 _Neo blinked when she noticed she wasn't anywhere on the ship. Looking around she found she was surrounded by a field full of flowers. A butterfly flew over to her and landed on her finger when she lifted her hand up. She smiled. Then she sensed him. He was near her. Turning around she saw him. Law was standing a few yards away from her. The butterfly flew away from her finger. "Um, hi."_

 _He rushed towards her. Getting in front of her he wrapped his arms around her. "What happened? You were in trouble. You were hurt. I could feel it."_

 _"I'm sorry." Neo clenched the back of his shirt. "I had a bad dream about you. And then we were attacked by these Astro Unit guys. I got hurt. Hoshi got hurt too."_

 _"Hoshi?" Law pulled back from her._

 _"He's a guardian," Neo said. "He found me and then Nami. He's helping us come find you too."_

 _"I'm not sure I understand," Law said._

 _"I know." Neo nodded. "I still don't get I either. But we can trust him." She leaned into his chest. "Will you just stay with me for a while? I feel better with you around."_

 _"Of course." Law wrapped his arms back around her. "I'm here. My name is Law."_

 _Neo nodded. "I know. Your name is on this picture Hoshi gave me." She yawned. "I'm tired."_

 _"Let's lay down here." Law guided her to the ground. He pulled her into his arms. "Sleep. I'll watch over you for now."_

 _Neo nodded again and closed her eyes._

 _Law stayed away for hours just stroking her hair and watching her sleep. Finally, she woke up._

 _Neo shifted against his side before opening her eyes. "Hey. Sorry. Did I sleep for long?"_

 _"Don't worry about it," Law said. "You needed your rest. Do you feel better?"_

 _"I do." Neo nodded._

 _"I'm glad," Law said. "I know it might be out of your control but please avoid fighting until you can find me. I don't want you to get hurt."_

 _"I'll try," Neo said. "But those Astro Units are after us. The man they work for is trying to kill us because of something we might have done. I'm not sure. We won't know until we find all of our friends. I'm sorry."_

 _"It's all right," Law said. "I'm sure all of this will make more sense once we've found each other."_

 _"How are you doing?" Neo asked. "Have they tried to hurt you?"_

 _"No, they haven't," Law said. "Don't worry about that. You're only going to make yourself sick. Just worry about yourself for now."_

 _Neo swallowed while also thinking of their baby. She wondered if she should tell him about that or wait until they could see each other in person._

 _"Something wrong?" Law asked when she got quiet._

 _"No, it's nothing," Neo said before feeling some kind of pull on her body and mind. "I think I have to go now. I'm sorry. I wish I could stay for a while longer."_

 _"It's fine," Law said. "We'll see each other again."_

 _They sat up. Neo looked at him before he cupped her face. Her heart hammered in her chest as he leaned in closer to her, to her lips._

Neo opened her eyes to her heart racing in her chest. "Why so soon?"

"Why what so soon?" Hoshi appeared in her vision.

"I was having a sweet dream," Neo said. "I woke up way too soon." She sighed and pulled her blanket around her body. "He was going to kiss me."

"Oh, dreaming of your husband?" Hoshi asked.

Neo's cheeks flushed. She nodded. Her stomach then growled. "I'm hungry. I'm going to make us something to eat."

"You feeling up to it?" Hoshi asked.

Neo nodded and sat up.

"Hey, looks who's finally awake," Nami called from the helm. "How you feeling?"

"A lot better," Neo said. "I'm going to cook something for us. How long have I been asleep?"

"About three hours," Nami said. "So far we haven't seen any sigh of those Astro Units But that doesn't mean they're still not after us. We should keep on our toes."

"That's good. Do you need anything before I start cooking?" Neo asked.

"No, I'm good," Nami said.

Neo nodded and with Hoshi following they headed into the kitchen. Digging through the fridge she pulled out three steaks and some vegetables as Hoshi jumped up on the counter to watch her. While placing the vegetables on the counter she used her wind crystals to hold the steaks into the air while using her fire crystals to thaw them. She pulled out the necessary pans and placed then on the burners. The steaks sizzled as she placed them on the hot pan. She then chopped up the vegetables and added them to the pan. Once everything was finished she lifted it all up with her winds and headed out to the help.

"Someone's in a good mood after her nap," Nami said when Neo and Hoshi reached her.

"Apparently so," Neo replied placing the food and drinks down on the table. "I'm not sure what happened. I had this really great dream about Law. And when I woke up I felt whole lot better than I have since I had that nightmare."

"I'm glad," Nami said. "We need you focused on our mission so we don't get hurt out here."

"I'll do my best," Neo said.

"That's all we can ask for." Nami smiled. "By the way, I checked the trail before while you were inside cooking. Their trails are getting thicker."

"Then that means we're getting closer to them," Hoshi said. "If we're lucky will catch up with them in a few days. Using Neo's wind crystals put us far ahead."

"Maybe I should use them again before we go to bed?" Neo suggested. "That way we'll be even farther away from the Astro Unit."

"It might not be a bad idea," Nami said.

"Well, I suppose it won't hurt," Hoshi said. "If you're feeling up to. If not then don't do it."

"I'm fine," Neo said. "That nap and dream really helped me out."

"Then go ahead." Hoshi nodded.

Neo nodded back then summoned her wind crystals again. She filled the sails with a hard enough breeze to push them along. She left her crystals out for almost two hours before finally letting the wind die down. "That should do it."

"We really need to figure out where we're going to sleep," Nami said. "And what about guards? I'm not sure how long the three of us can stay up at night."

"I could ask some of the creatures in the area to warn us if someone's coming closer," Neo said.

"That could work," Nami said. "Now what about sleeping? Someone should probably stay up in the captain's quarters. That way we should be able to hear if someone sneaks on board.

"Hey, Nami?" Neo asked.

"What's up?" Nami replied.

"I was just wondering," Neo said.

"Yes?" Nami prompted when Neo didn't continue.

"I might just be acting silly but I would like it if you and Hoshi stayed with me," Neo said twiddling her thumbs. "I feel less lonely when you two are around."

"I see. It's fine with me," Nami said.

"I suppose I could share a bed with her," Hoshi said.

"We could stay in the captain's quarters," Neo said. "That way we're all together if something happens."

"That's a good idea," Nami said. "All right then, it's settled. We'll stay inside of the captain's quarters. Let's go." She led them into the room. "Let me change the sheets first."

"Okay." Neo nodded. She waited patiently as Nami pulled the dirty sheets off the bed and replaced them with clean sheets from the closet. "Would it be alright if I slept near the wall?"

"If that's what you want," Nami said. "I don't mind."

"Thanks." Neo crawled onto the bed. Laying down she pulled the covers over her. Hoshi jumped up on the bed and curled up near her chest. "Good night, guys."

"Good night, Neo," Nami and Hoshi said.

Nami crawled under the covers. They all closed their eyes and fell asleep.


	10. Meeting

Meeting

Neo hummed to herself as she watched the ship in front of them sail forward. She could sense the island they all were heading for coming closer and closer. She could also feel him on the ship. Her mind followed along the wood from the back of the ship up to the room he was in. Her heart strummed inside of her chest. They were finally going to be able to meet up with two of their friends. She swallowed. Her fingers fiddled with the ring on her finger uncontrollably. Her _husband_ was on that ship, the man who gave her this child that was growing inside of her. And they were also going to meet soon.

"If you don't stop worrying so much you're going to make yourself sick," Hoshi said.

Neo looked at him as he jumped up on the railing. "I'm sorry. I'm just so nervous. Though I don't know why. Despite not remembering him he's still my…"

"Husband," Hoshi said.

Neo nodded.

"How far off are we from the island?" Nami called from the helm.

"Not too far off," Neo replied. She walked away from her post, Hoshi jumping up on her shoulders, and went over to the helm. "We should be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Do we have any idea how we're going to approach these two?" Nami asked.

"I don't think we have to worry about that," Neo said. "Law wants to come see me."

"Oh. I still find it very odd that you two can communicate like you've been doing," Nami said.

"I find it hard to believe as well," Neo said. "But it's possible."

"Don't worry about it. You'll remember why that's possible when you get your memories back," Hoshi said.

"You know, you haven't mentioned where we're going," Nami said. "I mean after we gathered up all of our friends. I know you've said we need them all to get our memories back, but will that happen automatically?"  
"I'm not really sure," Hoshi said. "It really depends on what happened when you lost your memories. I'm sure we'll get answers if we go to Selene, the capital of the Star Line."

"Selene, huh?" Neo asked.

"Well, first things first," Nami said. "We have to get our friends, or whoever, back."

Neo and Hoshi nodded.

…

Law stood with his arms crossed over the railing of the ship. He stared out at the ship behind them. They had been sailing there for a long while now. And she was on the ship. He had felt her there some time ago but only recently came back here. He wished she could contact him, but she hadn't. He wanted to contact her but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Besides in just a few short minutes they would be on the same island together. He would finally get to meet her in person. His heart jumped at the thought. He was ready to meet his mysterious dream girl.

"So what are you doing all the way back here?"

Law glanced back over his shoulder to find Laden walking over to him. "Nothing much. Just waiting to arrive at the island."

"For any particular reason?" Laden asked.

Law twitched. He couldn't figure out a reason the captain would ask that. Perhaps all it was casual talk. Or maybe not. Things didn't seem right since he's been speaking with Neo. He found it odd that they hadn't run into any trouble yet while being on this ship. "I'm going to check the local bookstores for more books on memory loss."

"I see," Laden said. "That would make sense." He looked at the ship behind them. "That ship's been following us for a while."

Law's heartbeat sped up.

"We must be heading for the same island," Laden said.

"You don't think it's an enemy ship?" Law asked.

"If it was they would be more sneaky than this," Laden said. "I've known they were there for thirty minutes now." He looked at Law. "Do you think it's an enemy?"

"I wouldn't know," Law said. "I'm still new on your ship."

"That you are." Laden walked away. "So don't worry about it. When we met up with my enemies you'll know."

"Right," Law mumbled. He was ready to get off this ship. His eyes went back to the ship following them. He proceeded to watch it until the ship he was on pulled into the docks. The crew chattering brought him back to his own ship. He headed towards the front just in time to catch Luffy before the rubber man could get off the ship. "Straw Hat, you're coming with me."

"Huh?" Luffy looked at him. "What for?"  
"I'm going to need your help with something," Law said. He eyed a few of the crewmembers as they looked at them. "It's about our memory loss."

The crewmembers continued descending down to the dock.

"Oh, okay then," Luffy said.

"Just be sure to be back at the ship in a few hours," Laden said. "I don't want any of my crew getting left behind."

"No problem," Luffy said.

Law and Luffy crawled down the rope ladder. Law paused when he reached the dock. His eyes wondered to the other ship that was pulling into the docks. His heart thumped then skipped a beat. She was so close.

"So are we going or not?" Luffy asked.

"Sure." Law turned and walked slowly towards the town. He kept his pace slow. Despite guessing she could sense him as well, he didn't want to get too far away from her.

"Wow," Luffy said bring Law's attention to him. The rubber man was scanning his eyes around the town.

Law then looked for himself to fine the buildings were all made of some form of white stone. And the windows appeared to be made from some kind of light blue crystal. He noticed they were unable to look inside of the windows and wondered if they were windows at all.

"So where are we going?" Luffy asked.

"There." Law pointed to the bookstore.

"Aw." Luffy's shoulder's dropped. "We're going to another library?"

"It's a bookstore not a library," Law said.

"Same thing," Luffy said. "It's full of books. And very boring."

"We won't be here for long," Law said heading for the building. "We're just meeting up with someone here."

"We are?" Luffy followed after him. They entered into the building. The smell of books mixed with the fragrance of some orange flower, which was draping down from the ceiling, met their noses. "Who? Some of the crew?"

"No, it's someone else," Law said.

"Tell me who it is," Luffy said.

"You'll see in a minute they're almost here." Law walked down an isle then paused to pretend the books caught his eyes while also keeping an eye on the door. And as he knew, she walked into the building. His heart skipped a beat. She was unmistakable. It was her. She noticed him too. Her eyes locked with his for a split second before she shyly dropped them down to the floor. He watched as she turned and spoke to someone. At that moment he realized she wasn't alone. She was with a long orange haired woman and had some white furred creature draped over her shoulders. Reading their body language he could easily tell his blue haired dream girl was too shy to come directly over to him even though she knew he knew she was there. The orange haired girl linked her arm through hers and pulled her over to them. He turned to them when they got closer. His eyes stayed on her until she looked at him. When she did he smiled. "Hi."

"Hi," she said.

"Okay, we're not going to, well I'm not going to beat around the bush here," the orange haired girl said. "We need to talk to you two. So come with us."

"Hm? Who are you?" Luffy asked when he noticed the girls standing there.

"We're going to tell you that," the orange haired girl said. "Let's go outside though. It's probably best if no one else heard this."

"Okay." Law nodded not taking his eyes off his girl. A smile twitched on his lips when she blushed and ducked her head.

"Come on."

The two men followed the girls outside. The orange hair led them away from the town and to the edge of a small forest. She leaned back against a tree and crossed her arms.

"So what's this about?" Luffy asked.

"For starters my name is Nami," Nami said. "She's Neo and the little fur ball is Hoshi."

"Hey! Don't call me a little fur ball!" Hoshi said.

"If the fur fits then wear it!" Nami said.

"Did that creature just speak?" Luffy asked.

"Of course I did, you simpleton," Hoshi said.

"That's so cool!" Luffy stepped up to the creature and bent down to his level. He poked Hoshi on the face multiple times. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! It's nice to meet you!"

"Will you stop poking me?!" Hoshi swiped his claws at Luffy, striking the rubber man on his hand.

"Ouch!" Luffy pulled back. "What was that for?!"

"Oh, yeah. He doesn't like anyone," Nami said.

"That's not true," Hoshi said. He rubbed his cheek against Neo's. "I like Neo."

Nami rolled her eyes. "Okay, shut up and listen. We all actually know each other."

"Huh?" Luffy looked over at her.

"Neo, show them the photo," Nami said.

Nodding, Neo pulled the photo out of her pocket. She unfolded it and held it out for them to see.

"What?!" Luffy screamed. "That's us?!"

"It is," Nami said.

"But I don't remember you all!" Luffy said.

"We don't remember anything but for our names," Nami said.

"That's odd! We only remember our names, too!" Luffy said.

"Will you stop shouting?" Hoshi said. "We have a lot to talk about."

"If you two would, we really need you to listen to what Hoshi has to say," Neo said.

"Well, here goes," Hoshi said before telling them the exact same thing he's told the girls. "And that's basically it."

"So we're going to Selene, huh?" Luffy asked.

"I believe that's where we need to go," Hoshi said with a nod.

"I guess that would explain why I never could find anything in those medical books." Law took the picture from Neo's hand and flipped it over. After reading the information on the back, his eyes shot to Neo's stomach then to her flushed face. "You're…"

Neo nodded, unable to look at him.

"What is it?" Luffy looked at the back of the picture. "What?! Is this real?! I'm the captain of my own crew and we have a ship?!"

"Apparently so," Nami said.

"That's amazing!" Luffy said. "I knew I was meant to be the captain!"

"I guess that would explain his obsession with wanting to guide the ship," Law said. "But how have you been able to survive all this while being pregnant?"  
"I don't know," Neo said. She tapped her head. "Memory loss and all."

"Right." Law lowered his eyes back to the words. "And we're married. I guess that explains the ring I'm wearing around my neck."

"Ring?" Neo brought her eyes up to his.

Law pulled the ring out from his shirt and showed it to her.

"It's identical to mine," Neo said lifting her hand to him.

"So who exactly is this Kuro guy?" Law asked. "And why do we have to fight him?"

"As already stated, I don't know all of the details. All I know is I was sent to find you all. Kuro must have made a move on the royal family at some point," Hoshi said. "It was either him or Tsuki that caused your memory loss. And since she has no reason to erase your memories my bet is Kuro did it. You all were probably in a fight with him and he erased most of your memories and scattered you all to different clusters. I'm not sure how you two ended up together." He looked at the men. "Dumb luck I guess. Or maybe it was fortunate. With you two this close we don't have to spend extra time looking for one of you. If we're lucky some of your other friends landed in the same place too."

"So do you believe us?" Nami asked. "Are you going to come with us? We really need to get going."

"Sounds like an adventure!" Luffy smiled. "I'm in!"

"What about you, um, L-Law?" Neo asked.

"It's okay," Law said. "You can call me that."

Neo smiled and nodded.

"I'm going with you as well," Law said.

"Hold it right there," a voice said.

"Who was that?" Nami asked looking around for the voice.

"Crap," Law cursed when Captain Laden and his crew walked out from behind the trees and bushes.

"That the crew you were sailing with?" Nami asked.

"That's them," Luffy said. "They're great guys." He waved. "Hi, everyone! These are our new friends! Or, well, old friends I guess I should say."

"So we noticed," Captain Laden said. "We heard everything that you said."

"I don't like this," Hoshi said his fur standing on its ends.

"But, unfortunately, you're not allowed to leave the crew unless you have permission from the captain. And I haven't given you permission to leave," Laden said.

"Then just give us permission," Luffy said. "We need to get our memories back."

"I will not be giving you permission," Captain Laden said. "You belong to me."

"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head.

"We don't belong to you," Law said.

"You agreed to join my crew. So you can't leave without my permission." The captain smiled and pulled out his sword. "And you don't have my permission. So we're not letting these vixens take you away from my crew."

"Actually, _Captain_ ," Law said with a smirk. "I never said we would join your crew. I said we would sail with you for a while."

"What?" Laden frowned.

"You heard me. We're not on your crew. We have the right to leave whenever we want. And we want to leave now," Law said.

Neo grabbed onto Law's sleeve. "Who is that man? His voice sounds familiar."

"That's _Captain_ Laden," Law said. "We've been sailing on his ship for a while now. But that ends here."

"I told you, you're not leaving my crew without my permission," Laden said.

"And I've already told you that we never agreed to be on your crew," Law said.

Laden frowned. "Such a pity. If you had I could have spared your lives."

"What are you talking about?" Nami asked.

"Crap! Don't tell me!" Hoshi said.

"That's right, flea bag," Laden said. "We work under Kuro. He ordered us to find you two." He lifted his sword and pointed it at Luffy and Law. "He said you two flew off in the same direction. He told us to kill you when we got the chance. Personally, I see that as a waste since you two don't remember anything. And you two can still live if you swear loyalty to me as your captain. Your powers would be such a waste."

Law felt Neo's grip tighten on him. He said, "We're not going anywhere with you now. And to be honest, we were going to steal your ship soon anyway. This way you can keep your ship."

"I'm keeping my ship and you two," Laden said. "Attack!"

Swords swished as they were pulled from their sheaths, bullets clicked into place, and the pirates chuckled with joy at the fight they were about to have.

Nami twirled her baton. "Why do we have to fight?"  
"Oh, this isn't going to be a fight, little girl," Laden said. The blade of his sword started cracking. The steel fell off to reveal the same material as the Astro Unit's spears. "It's going to be a massacre."

"Oh, crap!" Hoshi said. "He's an Astro Unit!"

"You got that right, kitty," Laden said.

"I'm not a kitty!" Hoshi snapped. "I'm a guardian!"

"Nova Flash!" A bright light erupted from Laden's sword.

"No! Close your eyes!" Hoshi said. But it was too late. Laden's attack blinded them.

"I can't see!" Luffy said.

"What do we do now?!" Nami asked.

Neo gritted her teeth. Her heart took a sharp jolt. She had to do something to protect her friends and their child. Then she remembered she was connected to nature. Slowing down her heart with a few deep breaths, she ignored the fact she couldn't see and connected to nature. She felt them. Their footsteps vibrated through the ground and to her feet as the moved in closer to them. A couple to her right brushed against a bush. One behind her stumbled over a small rock. She pulled Law closer to her. "Everyone listen to me. Just stay closed. I'll take care of them."

"How? We're blind," Luffy said.

"Trust her, Luffy," Nami said. "She can handle this. Do as she says."

"Well, all right," Luffy said.

"Be careful, Neo," Law said.

"I'll be fine. Though I don't know how long I'll be able to hold them back," Neo said.

"We only need two minutes before our eye sight is back," Hoshi said. "Can you hold them off for two minutes?"  
"I think I can," Neo said.

"Then go for it," Hoshi said.

"Right." Neo nodded. She summoned her crystals. The wind started to blow, putting up a barrier around them.

"What's going on?"

"What is this?"

"Is this a star flake?!"  
"No, it's not! No star flake can do this! It's something else! A devil fruit, maybe?!"

"Never mind that! Our attacks can still go through air! Attack!" Laden ordered. "Razor! Push through it!"

Razor roared and pushed his way through the wind. His heavy footsteps shook the ground beneath them.

"He's getting closer!" Hoshi said.

"I've got it!" Neo shifted her earth crystals to form a circle around them. She lifted the ground and formed a dome over them just before the man brought his fists down on the top of the dome. Flakes of dirt and small rocks fell from the dome ceiling.

"What happened?" Nami asked. "Why do I smell dirt?"

"I put an earth dome around us," Neo said. "It'll hold for a while. I hope. I can keep reinforcing it with my earth crystals but I'm not sure how long it will hold."

"You can do all that?! Wow!" Luffy said. "What are you?"

"Something called an elemental," Neo said. "I can manipulate and create the elements around me. That's how I knew where everyone was. I felt them through nature."

"That's so cool!" Luffy said.

"This is great but how are we suppose to know when our sight is back if we're inside of a dome with no light?" Nami asked.

"Uh, her fire crystals?" Hoshi said.

"Oh, I forgot about that," Nami said.

"I have one lit right now," Neo said. "Once our sight comes back we'll be able to see it."

"We need a plan," Law said. "We've fought guys like this before and was pretty much useless."

"It looked like Laden was the only one to have an Astro Unit's power," Hoshi said. "Neo, you should take him."

"What?" Law asked, his voice low and dangerous.

"Right now she's the only one powerful enough to face up to him," Hoshi said. "Most likely we're going to have to run from this fight anyway. We should have done that from the start. You all are too weak to face the Astro Units."

"He's right," Nami said. "We fought one on the way over here. We had to run. We weren't strong enough to fight them."

"What? We can't just run away," Luffy said.

"We might have to, Straw Hat," Law said. "Neo shouldn't be fighting anyway. Not while she's pregnant."

"So we're all agreed?" Hoshi asked.

"Yes," they all said.

"Then we'll escape as soon as we can," Hoshi said. "The most trouble we're going to have is with the gravity being deleted around us."

"I can get us out of that," Law said. "I can use my powers and move us away from them."

"Hey, I'm starting to get my eye sight back," Nami said.

"So am I," Luffy said.

More pounding on the dome caused larger chucks of dirt to fall down on them. Neo pushed more ground around them. She said, "I can almost see too."

"So can I," Law said. "Let's get ready to move. Room." He leaned closer to Neo. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Neo nodded.

"Then lower the shield," Law said.

Neo did. As it lowered a blade flew right at her. It glided through her skin on her upper left arm. She flinched.

"Neo!" Law flinched at the same time. He shot his eyes over to Neo. Rage flared up inside of his chest.

"Law, the plan!" Neo said.

"Right!" Law warped them as far away from them as he possible could. He grabbed Neo's arm. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Neo said. "It's just a cut."

"We'll take care of that later!" Hoshi said. "We need to get back to the ship and get out of here before Laden and his crew come to their senses and come after us!"

"He's right!" Nami said. "Let's go, Neo! Fly us out of here!"

"Right!" Neo lifted a gale around them and pulled them into the air.

"Yahoo! We're flying! This is so cool!" Luffy said.

"Must you be so loud?!" Nami asked.

"Says the one who's always yelling," Hoshi said.

"Just shut up," Nami said.

"So which is your ship?" Luffy asked looking down.

Neo lowered them to the deck of their ship.

"Wow! This is amazing!" Luffy ran all over the deck like an excited child.

"You should get that cleaned up," Hoshi said looking at her wound.

Neo nodded.

"There's a first aid kit in the kitchen," Nami said. "I guess the former cook of this ship was a klutz."

"Let me get the ship out to sea. Then I'll take care of this cut," Neo said. Walking over to the side, she looked down to the rope that bound them to the dock. Using a couple vines, she untied it then lifted the anchor with the vines, and finally pushed the ship out to see with her winds.

"I think we're far enough away," Nami said once the island was completely gone. "Get that wound taken care of. It needs to be cleaned out. The kits in the cabinet on the right side of the sink."

Neo nodded and headed for the kitchen. Passing by the table, Hoshi jumped off her shoulders and sat on it instead. Pulling the medical kit out of the cabinet, she walked over to the table and sat down. Her eyes when to the door when she sensed Law there.

"You better let me take a look at that. I have doctor experience," Law said. Resting his sword against the table and sat down and reached for Neo's arm. Upon contact an electric spark past through them. Their eyes locked. "Sorry."

"You did nothing wrong," Neo said.

"How are you feeling?" Law asked. He opened the kit and pulled out a bottle of antibiotics. "How's the…how's our baby?"

"Fine," Neo said cradling her stomach. "We're both fine."

"That's good." Law looked into her eyes again before forcing himself to look at the cut. He started cleaning it. "It doesn't look bad at all. We're lucky he was a lousy shot. I just need to disinfect it and wrap a bandage around it."

Neo nodded. She sat patiently as he worked on her injury. She knew she could heal it with her solar crystal but she couldn't bring herself to mention it. Mostly because she wanted him to touch her.

"There. All done." Law ran his fingers over the bandage one more time to make sure it wasn't too tight. Then his let his fingers drop to her stomach. Brushing the back of his fingers over her baby bump, his eyes met hers once again.

"Oh, will you two just kiss already?" Hoshi asked.

Neo and Law jumped and pulled away from each other.

"Hoshi," Neo said, flushing. "Don't sneak up on us like that."

"Sneak up on you?" Hoshi gave her an innocent look. "My dear, I came in here with you, remember?"

"Oh, right." Neo's cheeks darkened.

"So, about these star flake things," Law said. "Where do we find some?"

"We should be able to pick some up on our journey," Hoshi said. "They're not all that rare. Most just don't want to deal with them."

"Are they hard to use?" Law asked.

"Yes." Hoshi nodded. "But I'm sure you all will be able to handle them just fine. Hopefully, we'll find some that will suit the powers and abilities you all ready have. And, if we're lucky, we'll find some soon. They're not all that hard to find. We just have to find them."

"Tra!" Luffy busted into the room. "You've got to check this place out! There're so many rooms!"

"There's not that many rooms," Hoshi said. "Never mind. Let's just get sailing. We'll need to stop on a couple of islands to see if we can find any star flakes."

"Hey! You all better get out here!" Nami called from outside.

"What is it?" Luffy asked as they all ran out on the deck.

"What are those things?" Nami pointed ahead of the ship.

They all turned to see several large rings floating around over the sea.

"Hm? What are those things?" Luffy asked.

"Oh crap! Those are annular fields. They're ring like objects that are portals of sorts and can get you lost if you don't notice the mist around them," Hoshi said.

"Mist?" Neo asked.

"Nami! Get the compass on! You should be able to see a mist around the ring! We need to know what color it is! Someone else take the helm!" Hoshi said.

"I got it!" Luffy flung himself up to the helm and grabbed a hold of it.

"Let's see." Nami adjusted the compass over her eyes. "It looks like it's an orange mist. Should we go around it?"

"We can't," Hoshi said. "These things pop up randomly all over this sea. With their gravitational pull we're going to get sucked right in. Once we're on the other side you'll need to look fast and figure out where the other ring is that has an orange mist."

"What? Why?" Nami looked at the guardian.

"Because if we don't go through the same mist we could wind up weeks away from this spot," Hoshi said. "Like I said they're portals. If we go through the one that match this mist then we'll only get moved a few days away from this spot. And most likely your friends will be in this area since you all were."

"Okay, I think it get it," Nami said.

"You and Luffy will have to be fast," Hoshi said. "The sea always moves really quickly once we're caught in the gravity field."

Just then the ship started sailing fast towards the ring.

"Neo, you might have to help steer the ship into the right ring," Hoshi said.

"I'm ready." Neo summoned her wind crystals.

"Here we go," Hoshi said as they moved closer to the ring.

They passed through it. Nami scanned her eyes over the dozens and dozens of rings on the other side. "There! Three over to the left! Luffy!"

"I'm on it!" Luffy spun the helm. The ship turned.

Neo kept her crystals ready. Feeling the water pulling them in a different direction she wrapped a gale around the ship and pushed it toward the correct ring.

"Keep going! We're almost there!" Nami said.

The ring became bigger and bigger. They passed through it. The ring disappeared, leaving them near an island.

"We made it," Neo said.

Law nodded, running his eyes over her.

"And we're in luck," Hoshi said.

"Why's that?" Luffy asked.

"Me might be able to get some star flakes on this island," Hoshi said. "Take us ashore."

"You got it," Luffy said.

"Luffy, head for that little cove right there," Neo said pointing to it. "The water's deep enough for us to pull right up to shore."

"Okay," Luffy said.

Once Luffy had the ship in the cove, Neo pushed the winds away until they could tie up the sails. She then lifted the group and set them down on the ground. "So what now? How do we find the star flakes?"

"Give me a minute." Hoshi ran his eyes over the island. "I should be able to see their energy. There!" The group followed him as he ran forward. He stopped underneath a tree. "Bingo! There's one right here! And if I'm not mistaken it's an electric type."

"That's a star flake that gives everyone their powers? It looks so normal," Nami said staring that the white six pointed star laying on the ground.

"So cool!" Luffy picked it up and looked at it. "Do you want this one, Tra?"  
"No, you can have it," Law said. "It might work better for you since you're rubber."

"Maybe," Luffy said. "So how does it work?"  
"Just press it to your skin," Hoshi said. "It'll stick automatically."

"Okay." Luffy placed the star flake to his upper left arm. It sparked and hung in place. "Yeah."

"That's it?" Neo asked.

"That's it," Hoshi said. He turned his head around. "I think there's another one here too." He ran over to it. "There is. It's a meteor one."

"Tra, this one's yours." Luffy picked it up and handed it over to Law.

Law took it but didn't put it on.

"What's wrong?" Nami asked.

"This won't hurt Neo and our baby will it?" Law asked.

A storm of butterflies set of in Neo's stomach. Her heart pounded. His words sounds so natural and right to her. She wanted to hear it again but couldn't bring herself to ask him to say it.

"It won't hurt at all," Hoshi said. "I'd never do anything that would hurt Neo."

"You don't have to use it," Nami said. "We can always figure out another way."

"It'll be fine. As long as it gives me the power to protect Neo and our baby," Law said.

Neo's head became light.

"You okay? You're light headed," Law said.

"I'm fine," Neo said.

Law smiled at her.

Shifting awkwardly, she smiled and dropped her eyes to the ground.

Law placed the star just inside of his shirt collar. If he didn't like it there he could remove it later. "Is it going to take long to get control of them?"

"It varies from person to person," Hoshi said. "Let's get back to the ship. You can start working with them."

Neo wrapped her winds around them and flew them back to the ship. While Nami took over sailing the ship again, she sat down and watched Luffy and Law work on their new powers. Her hand stroked over Hoshi's soft fur. "Do you think they'll be all right?"

"Beats me," Hoshi said. "I guess we'll know soon enough."

"So how do we work these things?" Law asked.

"Sense out its power," Hoshi said. "And it happens."

Law held up his hand. A faint glow appeared in his hand before a small meteor appeared. Before he could react, the meteor shot out of his hand and shot through the side of the ship.

"Well, let's just hope they get enough control over them to not sink us," Hoshi said.

Law glared at the guardian.

Neo turned her eyes to Luffy. The young man was focusing so hard his face was turning red. Then suddenly a spark gathered around him.

"Yeah! I did it!" Luffy screamed. A loud crackle snapped around him. His body shot backwards, hitting the mast.

"Well, we're certainly in good hands with you two around," Hoshi said rolling his eyes. "I feel so safe now."

"Give them time, Hoshi," Neo said. "I know they can do this."

"Confident, aren't we?" Hoshi looked up at her.

Neo nodded. "I guess so."


	11. Wars

Wars

Neo rolled over and opened her eyes. Nami was sound asleep beside her. Hoshi was sleeping curled up in between them. Sensing Law outside, she slipped out of the bed and left the room. He was supposed to be on guard duty but he was using the time to get control over his star flake. He was taking smooth, quick strokes through the air with his sword. Several meteors released and shot through the air. She watched the fly off into the distances. They were shockingly quiet in the night.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Neo jumped, forgetting he could sense her as well. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Law turned to her.

Neo opened her mouth but found she had no answer. "Apparently nothing."

"Did you need something then?" Law asked. "Are you feeling sick?"

"No, nothing like that." Neo descended down the stairs. "I just woke up. I guess I sensed you out here and wanted to come out."

"So you feel a desire to be beside me," Law said.

Heat formed on her cheeks. She nodded.

"That's fine," Law said. "I was feeling the same as well."

"I should have figured as much," Neo said. "I guess I'm also a bit anxious of getting our memories back. I want to…well, you and I are…" She dropped her eyes to the deck. This man was her husband. She shouldn't have such a hard time talking to him. Or telling him she wanted to kiss him. Her thoughts were interrupted when his finger tilted her chin up. "What are you-?"

Law pressed his lips to hers.

Neo's heard pounded in her chest. Her stomach flipped every which way it could, even doing some moves she didn't think possible. No, that was their baby moving. The kicks became more noticeable as she settled into his kiss, his lips smooth and distantly familiar. He was staring right at her. She closed her eyes to keep herself from feeling self-conscious. After several seconds, he pulled away and she drew in a breath.

"You don't have to be afraid of kissing me," Law said. "We both know we're meant to be together."

"I didn't want to…I mean I'm not…" Neo sighed. "Sorry."

"It's all right," Law said. He brushed his hand over her stomach. "Our baby feeling okay? He, or she, was getting a bit excited there."

"You felt it?" Neo asked.

"I did." Law nodded.

"Huh. I guess we can feel more than each other's pain and presence," Neo said. "So how are you doing with your star flake? Are you getting control over it?"  
"I am." Law nodded. "The hardest part about this thing is controlling where I want the meteors to go. They seem to want to fly off on their own."

"I could help direct them," Neo said.

"I know you could," Law said. "But we might not always be together. So I need to learn how to control this completely on my own."

"Yeah, you're right," Neo said. Silence feel between them. A cool breeze lifted off the sea. Goosebumps rose on her arms.

"You should go back inside. It's a bit chilly out here," Law said.

"I'd rather stay out here with you," Neo said. "I can keep warm with my crystals if I need to."

"Well, I guess that will be fine," Law said.

Neo giggled. "You're clearly going to be over protective of us."

"I can't help it." Law smiled. "Like it's been said, our memories might be gone but our instincts remain. And mine are telling me to protect you and our baby at all costs."

"Mine are telling me to protect you as well," Neo said. "I still want to help you practice with your star flake. I can pull up targets from the sea or create them with my crystals. You can use them for target practice."

"That might actually help," Law said. "I don't want to wake up the others, so create some vines or seaweed."

Neo nodded. Summoning her earth crystals, she spread them out over the sea at different spots.

Law lifted his sword back up. Slicing it through the air, he threw out a couple of meteors.

Neo created a large flower and sat down on it so she could watch Law's practice in comfort. She watch him miss several times before he finally hit the seaweed. For hours she watched him practice until sleep came over her.

"You should rest now," Law said.

"I'm fine." Neo covered a yawn.

Chuckling, Law stepped over to her. Pressing his finger to her forehead he pushed her back onto the flower. "Sleep. I've practiced enough. We can pick this up later."

"Okay." Neo shifted her flower again so she could lay down.

"You're not going back inside?" Law asked.

"Not while you're still out here," Neo said. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

With another chuckle, Law formed his Room and warped his blanket to his hand. He laid it over Neo then resumed practice on his own for a while.

It was some time later when Neo stirred and moved closer to a warm source beside her. Breathing in she noticed a familiar scent. She opened her eyes to find Law laying right beside her. He was propped up on his arm and smiling down at her. She jumped, startled at his unexpected closeness.

"Sorry." He chuckled. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine," Neo said. "I was still half asleep anyway."

"At least you slept good," Law said.

"I did," Neo said. "Shouldn't you still be on guard duty?"  
"Nami took over a couple hours ago," Law said. "Since you seemed so comfortable here, I decide to lay down with you. That okay?"  
"It's fine," Neo said. "Though I should start on breakfast now."

Law nodded.

Neo shifted off the flower. Once Law stood up she removed the flower from the deck then headed back into the bathroom before going to the kitchen to start breakfast.

"So how did it go?" Hoshi jumped up on the counter.

"What do you mean?" Neo asked.

"Don't think I didn't notice you leaving the room last night. And the fact that you didn't come back," Hoshi said. "It was all I could do to keep myself from going out on the deck and scratching his eyes out for making a move on you."

"He didn't make a move on me." Neo flushed and all but slammed the pan down on the stove.

"Sure he didn't," Hoshi said. "You two have been dying to kiss each other since you met. Finally it happened. Or am I wrong?"  
"Shut up," Neo said. Stepping to the cabinet she pulled out the oatmeal. Neither said much after that as she worked around the kitchen. Her heart leaped when Law entered into the room. He appeared to have freshened up a bit since she came in here. He sat down at the table and just watched her.

"Food!" Luffy then busted into the kitchen. "I'm starving! I want meat!"

"Sorry, Luffy," Neo said. "We don't really have much of that anymore. You've eaten it all these past couple of weeks."

"Aw." Luffy dropped his arms to his side.

"Neo's not your personal chief anyway," Law said.

"But she likes to cook," Luffy said sitting down at the table.

"Tell you what," Neo said placed the oatmeal on the table. "If you can catch some fish I'll cook it for you." She turned to Law before he could protest. "I'll make your favorite too."

"Fine," Law said with a defeated sigh.

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered.

"What's going on in here?" Nami asked.

"Luffy being Luffy," Neo said.

"I see." Nami sat down.

"So how much farther until we reach the next cluster?" Luffy asked.

"Should be there in a few days," Nami said. "I'm hope just two. Can you sense them?"  
"Their presence is getting stronger," Hoshi said. "There're three of them."

"Three of them," Law said. "I hope that means the others are together as well. If they landed in groups then it won't take as long to gather them."

…

Zoro yawned then stared up at the sky. The purple sky he still didn't understand. He was pondering over how he got into this situation in the first place. His eyes dropped from the sky and down to the battle in front of him. Sitting in the large tree, he had a perfect view of the fight. Half of them were soldiers for some rich nobles that lived on the island. They were in control of everything here. And they wanted this forest destroyed so they could build some more gambling centers and theme parks.

But there was the other side. A group of people that opposed cutting down all the trees. Two of them always caught his eyes. They were different from the rest. And they didn't have those annoying star flakes like a lot of the protestors had. They had their own skills, crystals of some sort. The girl had control over fire. Her hair and eyes were a matching orange color. And the boy could control the earth itself. His hair and eyes also matched but was green. Then there was the most peculiar thing about them. They weren't human. They felt like nature. Which shouldn't have been surprising since they could control parts of nature. Still, there was something about them that held him back from fighting them at his full strength.

Zoro lifted his eyes back to the sky, his mind drift back to the day that brought him to this point.

 _Zoro opened his eyes. Sitting up he looked around to find himself laying on a rooftop. "Where the heck am I? And how did I get way up here?"_

 _Standing up he walked over to the side and looked down. He was at least fifteen floors off the ground. Not far to jump at all. So he did. His land with an earth shaking thump, startling several people around him. He didn't notice. He just stood up and walked away from that spot. Walking around his stomach growled up at him. He looked around, finally noticing the pastel colored buildings. "I wonder where I can get something to eat." He reached into his pockets to find a few dollars. "Hope this is enough."_

 _He walked away until he found a building that smelled like alcohol. He entered and sat down at a table. A waitress walked over. "How can I help you?"_

 _"How about some sake? And a sandwich," Zoro said._

 _"And what would you like on that sandwich?" she asked._

 _"I don't care. Make it two sandwiches," Zoro said. "With fish I guess."_

 _"I'll be right back with your drink." She walked away._

 _Zoro let his eyes drift around the room. He noticed that all the people there had light colored skin and light shades of hair, even their eyes were light colored, almost like the pastel colors of the buildings. "Weird place."_

 _"Here's your drink." The waitress came back and placed his mug down on the table. "Your sandwiches will be out soon."_

 _"Whatever." Zoro picked up his mug and took a long swig. The cool liquid ran down his throat making him notice he was a lot thirstier than he realized. A few minutes later his sandwiches came. He ate them in silence and peace before heading back outside. He walked down the street with no intention of going anywhere. Pausing for a moment he started to think about where he was but got interrupted when a fight broke out. Three large burly guys were throwing punches at each other while a forth one was running away from the scene with a blonde haired girl over his shoulder._

 _She screamed, "Put me down you over sized ape!"_

 _"Shut up! You're our ticket to get rich!" the man replied._

 _"So that's it," Zoro said. Without thinking, he grabbed his three swords hanging on his hip. Swirling around he created a twister that shot the man and girl into the air. He put up his swords then held out his arms for the girl to land in them. Looking back over to the other three men he found two of them were laying on the ground. The one standing had electricity sparking around his fists._

 _"Wow! Thank you so much!" the girl said. She threw her arms around his neck. "You saved my life! You're now my new soldier!"_

 _"What?! Wait a second!" Zoro said._

 _"Mistress Kari," the man with the sparking hands came running over. "Are you hurt?"_

 _"I am fine, Takara." Kari climbed out of Zoro's arms. "This man saved me. And he's our new soldier."_

 _"Hold on! I am not!" Zoro said. "I was just passing through!"_

 _"He's kind of on the puny size. I can't believe that he defeated that guy," Takara said. "Well, welcome then. It will be great to have someone as strong as you on our side."_

 _"Hold on. I'm not on anyone's side. And what do you mean puny?" Zoro said. Then he noticed. All of the men were at least twice the size of the women. This Takara guy was three times his own size. "What's going on? Where am I?"_

 _"You're on Flex," Kari said. "A cluster that's know for it's recreational fun."_

 _"Mistress Kari here is the daughter of the man who owns this island," Takara said. "What she wants, she gets."_

 _"So who are you, mister?" Kari asked. "I would love to know the name of the man who rescued me."_

 _"Roronoa Zoro," Zoro said._

 _"And where did you come from? I know we would have noticed you before," Kari said._

 _"I'm from…" Zoro trailed off. "I don't know."_

 _"What do you mean, you don't know?" Takara asked._

 _"I can't remember," Zoro said. "I can only remember my name."_

 _"That's odd," Kari said. "Takara, we must get him help. Bring him home. I'll have my personal doctor look at him."_

 _"As you wish, Mistress." Takara nodded. "Let's go."_

 _Zoro didn't want to go. But with no memories but for his name he really didn't have much choice. He followed them for several blocks before the city finally tapered away from them and a large mansion appeared. A large stone fence surrounded it with a metal gate as the only entrance, unless you could fly._

Zoro sighed. He didn't have any intention of working for that girl. Yet he somehow fell into it. After visiting with the girl's doctor he decided he would stay around for a while in hopes of getting his memories back. And despite how fighting wasn't on his mind, he found it felt so natural to him. He was very skilled with his three swords and did moves that should have been impossible. The doctor suggested that it was his instincts that did all those moves and suggested it might help him regain his memories if he became a soldier. It didn't seem to be helping. For weeks now he had been fighting for the girl and her family and nothing came back to him.

His attention dropped down to his two mysterious beings. The boy had several of his fellow soldiers trapped in vines. None of the star flakes were helping. In fact they were at an ever-present stalemate at this point. A tingling notion was dancing around in the back of his head. He wanted to test his strength against these two, but something held him back. And it wasn't fear.

"Retreat!"

Zoro looked down when one of the captains shouted out. They had reached their limit for the day. Even the other side was worn down. They all slowly backed away from each other. The forest defenders disappeared into the trees while the soldiers exited the forest. It was over, for today anyway. Jumping down he followed after the soldiers. After reaching the mansion the soldiers broke off to go to different parts of it. Some headed for the showers, while some went to their rooms, and others headed to their homes. Mostly they stayed at the mansion since it was big enough, but some still had families and homes of their own and preferred to go there until they were needed again.

"Zoro!" Kari came running out of the mansion. She threw her arms around his neck. "I'm so glad you've come home safely! I was worried about you!"

"There he goes again," a soldier mumbled. "Getting special treatment from the mistress."

"And again he won't get punished for not fighting," another soldier said.

Zoro ignored them. He would fight if he felt like it. Most of the time he just didn't. He didn't like this war going on between the two parties.

"You aren't hurt, are you?" She stared up at him with her bright blue eyes. Eyes that sparked something in his missing memories. Her eyes reminded him of someone.

"Let go of me." Zoro pushed her away. "There's only one girl who can touch me like that."  
"Oh?" Kari's eyes flared up with jealousy.

It was a look that he has seen many times over the weeks he had been staying here. Kari was one very jealous girl, a real spoiled brat if she didn't get what she wanted. And somewhere along the way she had declared that he belonged to her.

"I don't think getting your memories back is a good idea," Kari said. "So stop them right now."

"You've got to be kidding me," Zoro said. "They're memories. I can't push them away because you don't like them."

"So you are getting them back." Kari crossed her arms.

"No, I'm not," Zoro said. "I'm not even sure why I said what I did. I came out on it's on."

"So you're not involved," Kari said with a smile.

Zoro sighed. This kid didn't seem to understand what memories loss really meant. "I'm going to go take a nap."

"I'll come with you!" Kari started to follow after him.

"No, you won't." Takara appeared. He grabbed Kari by the back of her dress and pulled her off in the opposite direction. "It's time for your music lessons."

"But I don't want to go to them!" Kari whined.

"Tough," Takara said.

Zoro sighed with relief. The girl had a bad habit of inviting herself into his room, even at night when he was sleeping. He often woke up to find her curled up in bed with him. Entering into the mansion, he walked down the pastel colored hall until he got to the staircase that led up to his room. His was on the second floor where he could see out over the front yard. A lot of guards were on the second floor on both wings. It was a battle tactic that would give them the element of surprise is someone snuck onto the property. The soldiers could easily jump out of the window to attack.

Taking off his swords, he leaned them against the corral nightstand then fell onto the round, frameless bed that looked more like a puff ball to him. Still he didn't complain. It was comfortable. And he didn't have to worry about getting rained on. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

…

He watched as the soldiers walked out of the forest. His eyes were locked onto the man with light green hair, the one who seem to skip out on fighting most of the time. The green haired man was always on his mind. He just couldn't comprehend why he always skipped out of fighting. The man's skills were above the rest. It didn't make sense.

"Watching that one guy again, Kailen?"  
Kailen turned to his female friend, the only one on this entire cluster that was like him. "Yeah. But he interests you as well, Topaz."

"That he does." Topaz crossed her arms over her chest. She looked at the green haired man before he disappeared from the forest. "At least we don't have to fight him."

"I wouldn't say that just yet," Kailen said. "He could still change his mind."

"Maybe," Topaz said. "Though I doubt it."

"We'll see I guess," Kailen said.

"There's no more point in staying here," Topaz said. "Let's go."

"Yeah." Kailen nodded. Pulling himself away from the man he followed Topaz deeper into the forest. Animals greeted them as they maneuvered their way through the thick foliage. "Have you been able to figure anything out yet with our memories?"

"No," Topaz said. "The books, the doctors, none of them will help us."

"Maybe on a different cluster?" Kailen asked.

"Possibly," Topaz said. "But we can't really leave right now until this war is over. We can't let them destroy this place anymore than they already have." She paused. Looking down she found a small stream of oil running through the forest. "Why can't they see how they're killing the air they breathe, the food they eat?"

Kailen sighed. His eyes locked onto the dying plants around the oil. Their dying life force passed over to him. "Part of me is glad that we woke up here. But part of me wishes we didn't." Summoning a green crystal, he created a giant leaf underneath their feet and pushed them above the canopy. Bright colors of the closest theme park greeted them. Both could feel the nature around them being choked by the pollution and trash that came from the many theme parks on this cluster. "It has to be stopped."

"It might be impossible," Topaz said.

"How can you say that?" Kailen looked at her. "We're part of this nature. It's killing us too."

"I know." Topaz nodded. "But there are many places out there like this. It's impossible for us to take them all on. Besides we have lives of our own we need to get back to."

"If we ever figure out who we are," Kailen said.

Topaz nodded. "If only we could capture the mistress who's dad owns this cluster."

"A lot of good that will do." Kailen lowered them back to the ground. They started walking again. "I'm not very sure he really cares about her. He seems to only love the money he gets from his theme parks and casinos."

"You might be right," Topaz said.

"There you two are."

"Need something, Roni?" Kailen asked when their black haired friend stepped around a tree.

"I just wanted to thank you bother again for another successful day," Roni said.

"But they'll be back tomorrow," Topaz said. "They always come back."

"We managed to hold them off another day," Roni said with a smile. "That's a success in my book. The troops and I are going to celebrate. Want to come?"  
"No, thanks," Topaz said. "We're going to head home."

"All right." Roni nodded before leaving. "See you tomorrow. Get a good rest."

"You too," the remaining two said. The two continued on through the forest.

"Sometimes that guy seems too optimistic for his own good," Kailen said. He ducked under a large leaf, holding it up for Topaz before they continued forward.

"He only loves this place." Topaz looked up. Several colorful birds were flying over head, some calling for their mate, other flying to their nest to feed their young, a few looking down at them from branches, and some were perched around singing. "And who could blame him. This place is amazing."

Kailen nodded. Rounding a large tree their tree house greeted them. They walked up the vine stairs and entered into their living room. He sat down on the sunflower couch and sighed. "I always feel so exhausted after a fight."

"Yeah. It does seem-" Topaz stopped. The two looked at each other. They felt it, her, at the same time. Someone was coming closer to them. And this person was like them. This person could control nature as well. But they could control all of nature. Water, fire, earth, and air were present inside of this person. "Do you…feel that?"

"I do." Kailen nodded. He jumped to his feet. "But who is it? And how could they have such magic?"

"I don't know," Topaz said. "But I get the feeling we should go see this person."

"Yes. I feel the same," Kailen said.

Without another word, the two rushed back down the vine stairs. They headed through the forest as quickly as they could, making their way to the port.

…

"Hey! We're here!" Luffy shouted out from the crow's nest.

"Great. And there's an open spot at the docks," Nami said moving the ship towards the spot she saw.

"Hm." Neo hummed as she scanned her eyes over the island.

"Something wrong, Neo?" Law asked.

Neo turned her eyes to him. They were sitting together at the table Nami had found when they first took the ship. "I can sense something."

Hoshi stood from his nap. Stretching out on her lap, he yawned, and then sat down and looked up at her. "What's up?"

"Nature is moving," Neo said.

"I believe that is normal," Hoshi said.

"No, not like this," Neo said. "Fire and plants are moving in a way that's not normal."

"Oh, I see. Those must be the other two elementals," Hoshi said while scratching his ear.

The ship stopped. Nami walked down to them. "I didn't know you could sense them."

"I guess it's normal since I can sense nature," Neo said. "We are nature after all."

"What's going on?" Luffy asked, dropping down to the deck.

"Neo can sense the two elementals that are here," Nami said.

"That's cool!" Luffy smiled.

"Is there anything you don't find cool?" Hoshi asked.

"So do you think they sense you too?" Nami asked.

"I'm sure they do," Neo said. "They're coming this way."

"At least we don't have to find them," Nami said looking around with the compass. "Now we only have to find the other one. He's not that far off. Maybe a couple miles or so?"

"We'll find that one later," Law said. He stood up and placed his sword on his shoulder. "Might as well see what these two want first."

Neo nodded. Gathering them in her winds, she lifted them to the dock.

"Hey, this place looks like the island we went to," Luffy said scanning the casinos near the docks.

Law nodded.

Reaching the end of the docks, Neo looked to her left. "They're coming from the forest."

"Let's go see them then," Nami said leading the way.

"You nervous?" Hoshi asked from Neo's shoulders.

"No, I'm not," Neo said. "They're friendly. They won't hurt us."

Reach the edge of the forest, the small group sat down and waited. Fifteen minutes later the two finally emerged from the woods. Their eyes locked onto Neo. Then they did something that shocked them all. The two kneeled in front of Neo.

"Now, I'm nervous," Neo said leaning into Law's arm.

Law shifted his sword, crossing it in front of Neo.

"Sorry," the orange haired woman lifted her eyes to them. "I don't know why we did that. It just happened."

"That was odd," the green haired guy said. "This over whelming desire to bow to you just happened."

"It's…okay," Neo said. "I knew you two were coming. I could sense you."

"And we could sense you," the girl said. "My name is Topaz."

"And mine is Kailen," the boy said.

"We know," Neo said. The two exchanged confused looks before she handed over the picture of them. The story was told to them like the others.

"Hey! That's him!" Topaz pointed to the green haired man on the photo.

"You know him?" Nami asked.

"He's been fighting on the other side," Kailen said. "Well, he's sort of been fighting. He doesn't so much anymore. I wonder since we know each other if that's why he stopped fighting us."

"But what about the forest?" Topaz asked.

"What about it?" Nami asked. "It looks fine to me."

"It's not," Topaz said. "Several parts of it are actually dying. And the man who owns this cluster wants to destroy the rest of it to build theme parks and more gambling centers."

"Really? They seemed to have quite a few casinos as it is," Nami said. "We saw the docks."

"They're all over the cluster," Kailen said. "This is really the last forest on this cluster. The boss man is on the verge of killing everything on this island, people included. He doesn't understand how important the forest is for people."

"We've been fighting him and his army ever since we woke up on this island," Topaz said.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Neo asked.

"I'm afraid not," Topaz said. "There's just no way to convince this man what he's doing is wrong. Many have tried. All have failed."

"Either way, it's not our responsibility," Law said. "We have to find the other one here and leave."

"We can't just leave this place like that," Topaz said.

"We have our own problem to deal with," Law said.

"Why the rush? It takes time to find everyone," Luffy said. "Let's stay here for a while."

"Straw Hat, did you forget people are chasing us so they can kill us?" Law asked.

"Kill you?" Kailen asked.

"Let me explain," Hoshi said. "And there you have it. You two are being hunted as well."

"These people are extremely dangerous," Neo said. "I don't want you to get hurt. So please come with us."

Topaz and Kailen exchanged looks.

"I'm sorry. I know how you feel," Neo said. "Maybe there's something we can do to help. We might be able to think of something."

"Well, it's worth a shot," Topaz said.

"I agree." Kailen nodded.

"Have you ever had the opposing sides sit down and talk?" Nami asked.

"They're too stubborn to do that," Topaz said.

"No, we haven't tried that," Kailen said. "The fighting has been too much. Besides the owner is a very unreasonable man. And from what I've heard he's not even on the cluster right now. He's off inspecting other cluster he owns."

"His daughter is still here," Topaz said.

"Maybe she can talk to your side," Luffy said.

"It might be worth trying," Kailen said. "She could be more reasonable than her dad. And she's daddy's little princess. If we can get her on our side she can get her dad to stop. Her name is Kari. And she'll be the only girl there except for the maids."

"Sounds like a long shot," Hoshi said.

"I think it's worth a try," Nami said.

"We'll go get Roni then," Topaz said. "He's the commander of the troops trying to save the forest. Then we'll meet you at the mansion."

"And where's that?" Nami asked.

"Outside of the city," Kailen said standing up. "You can't miss it. It's got a huge yard with a stone fence around it."

The two elementals entered back in the forest.

"Shall we go?" Neo asked.

"Might as well," Hoshi said. "It's not like we have anything else to do."

Neo nodded. Summoning her wind crystal again, she lifted them into the air and few over the city. They all scanned their eyes over the area until the building they were looking for came into sight.

"There it is," Nami said.

"Wow! This place is huge!" Luffy said.

"Why would anyone need a place this big?" Neo asked. She scanned her eyes over the land. The place was practically bare of foliage. Wrapping her arms around herself she sighed. "Why do they have to kill the plants?"

"Money can make people very greedy," Law said slipping his arm around her shoulders. "Not everyone cares about nature as much as others."

"Hopefully we can end this and save this cluster," Nami said. "Not that it's our problem."

"Topaz and Kailen won't leave otherwise," Neo said.

Nami nodded. "Then let's find this person. There're so many rooms. We should have asked those two where she might be."

"Might as well land and look around," Luffy said.

"Or we can do the civil thing and knock," Law said. "Just place us down. We'll walk to the door."

Neo lowered them to the ground. The second their feet were on the solid surface, several men sprang out from the windows. They landed on the ground and started firing their star flakes at them.

"What's going on?!" Nami asked dodging a meteor. "Hey! We're not here to fight you!"

"Who are these guys?!" Luffy asked before punching one. "They're huge!"

"Who cares?! Just stop them before they kill us!" Nami screamed as she ran from two men chasing her.

Law pulled out his sword forming his Room; he sliced a few men apart.

"They just keep coming," Neo said pushing some back with her winds. "We have to find Zoro and Kari."

"Then go! We'll stay and handle these guys!" Law said.

"But I should stay and help," Neo said.

"You can move faster than any of us," Law said, slicing down a man. "Get them two then come get us. We'll fly out of here and meet up with the other three."

"Okay," Neo said. She lifted herself into the air. As fast as she could she flew into the nearest open window. Man sweat hammered her nose upon entering the room. Barbells were laying haphazardly on the floor so she figured they had interrupted the person who owned this room. Pushing it aside, she left and entered into the long hall. Doors upon doors lined the hallway. She should have gotten a better look at the shape of the building when she was outside. From that she might have guessed where her targets might be. Recalling what Topaz and Kailen told them Zoro was a fighter. So surely he would be around this area somewhere. She flew to her right, knocking on doors. It was probably a waste of time knocking on the doors but she really didn't want to opened them up to possibly find a naked man inside. Coming to the next door she lifted her hand to knock but paused when she heard voices inside.

"Zoro!" a girl shrieked. "You have to save me! The manor is under attack!"

"Will you let go of me?!" a man, who she assumed was Zoro, shouted.

"But I'm scared! You have to protect me!" she said.

"I can't protect anyone if you're choking me! Let go!" Zoro demanded.

Grabbing the door handle, Neo pushed opened the door. She paused to find the girl was clinging to the green haired man. His face was turning blue. It was amazing he could even talk.

"Who are you?" Zoro asked.

The girl shrieked and tightened her hold on him. "Zoro! They're inside now! Do something!"

"Then let go of me!" Zoro grabbed the girl's arms and finally pried her off him. He then pulled out two swords.

"Wait!" Neo said. "I'm not were to hurt anyone. Zoro, I need to speak with you and Kari. Is this her?"

"Huh? How do you know my name?" Zoro asked.

"She must have come here to kidnap me! That's why she knows our names!" The girl grabbed onto him from behind.

"Look." Neo pulled out the picture. "We're friends."

"Hm?" Zoro scanned the picture. "Hey, I know those two. The one with the orange and green hair."

"That's right. You've met them before. We've all suffered memories loss," Neo said. "We're trying to gather everyone in this picture so we can get her memories back."

"Is that so?" Zoro cocked his head, his eyes still on the picture.

"Please, you have to come with me," Neo said. "Please!"

"All right," Zoro said.

"What?!" the girl shrieked.

"You are Kari, right?" Neo looked to the girl and put up the picture.

Kari glared at her.

"Yes, that's her," Zoro said.

"Don't tell her that!" Kari said.

"You already did when you said she knew our names!" Zoro tried to pry the girl off of him again. "Will you let me go?!"

"No! I'm scared! Save me, Zoro!" Kari said.

"Well, she's really charming," Hoshi said. "Let's just take them and go."

Nodding, Neo lifted them both off the floor with her wind crystals, earning another ear piercing shriek from Kari. Doing her best to ignore her, Neo flew them towards the window. She opened it and took them into the sky. Looking down she could see her friends were starting to be worn down by the number and powers these men had. She pulled them into the air with her.

"Hey!" Luffy protested, his body crackling with his electricity. "I wasn't done!"

"I got Zoro and Kari," Neo said.

"Good girl," Law said, earning a blush from Neo.

"There so many! Zoro! Save me!" Kari said, tightening her hold.

"If someone doesn't get her off of me I'm going to kill her!" Zoro said.

"Come on, let him go," Nami said. "We're not going to hurt you. We only want to talk."

"No!" Kari cried.

"She's going to give me a headache with all the screaming," Hoshi said.

Neo looked at Law when his Room appeared around them. Next thing she knew Kari's body was separated into several parts.

"What happened to me?! I'm going to die!" Kari said.

"If you don't stop that screaming, you will die." Law glared.

Kari froze before falling into a blubbering mess. "P-please! Don't…don't k-kill me!"

"You didn't have to scare her like that," Hoshi said.

"She's the one who wouldn't shut up," Law said.

"Like she's doing now?" Hoshi swished his tail.

"Shut up or you're next," Law said.

"So where are we going?" Zoro asked.

"To talk to a few people you've been fighting," Nami said.

"Hi!" Luffy then said with a huge grin. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Nice to meet you! Or meet you again I guess."

"Uh, yeah," Zoro said.

"Do you sense them yet?" Law asked.

"We're getting close. They're coming our way so they must have gotten their friend to come," Neo said.

"Or they just kidnapped him," Nami said. "Which is exactly what we just did to Kari."

"I don't think they're the type to do that," Neo said. "We'll see soon. We're almost there."

A few more minutes and Neo lowered them down into the forest.

"Huh?! What happened to her?!" Kailen screamed. "You weren't supposed to kill her!"

"She's not dead," Law said. "It's just an ability of mine."

"Someone help me!" Kari cried.

"Why would you do something like this?" the man with the two elementals asked. He rushed over to Kari and looked her over.

"She didn't want to come with us," Neo said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Law said. "We're not hurting her." With a few hand movements, he put the girl back together. "There. She has no reason to cry anymore."

"You're monsters!" Kari said.

"Are you all right?" the guy asked.

"Huh?" Kari looked up at him.

"Oh, right. Everyone this is Roni," Topaz said. "He's been leading our group in trying to stop the-"

"Eek! So cute!" Kari cried. She jumped up and made circles around Roni. She stopped in front of him with sparkling eyes.

"Good grief." Zoro shook his head.

"I never knew you were so good looking," Kari said.

"And I never knew you were so cute," Roni said.

Kari giggled and fluttered her eyelashes.

"If it is all right with you, I would like to discuss why you need to stop cutting down the trees," Roni said offering his hand to her.

"And I shall be willing to listen," Kari said placing her hand in his. "But let's go back to the mansion. It's too crowded here."

"As you wish." The two walked off.

"I think they forgot we're here," Hoshi said.

"This has got to be some sick joke! After all this time of fighting all it took was them looking at each other to end it?!" Zoro growled.

"Well, they say love often never makes sense," Hoshi said swishing his tail.

"Guess we should just accept it and move on?" Neo looked up at Law.

"I guess so," Law said.

"At least this time we didn't have to fight anyone," Nami said crossing her arms.

"Speak for yourself," Kailen said.

"We've been fighting the whole time we were here," Topaz said. "I feel so used."

"You could have stopped. It worked for me," Zoro said.

"Just shut up," Topaz and Kailen said while glaring at the swordsman.

 **Author's Notes: Man, I got to remember to not do stories like this anymore unless I give it some serious thought and planning before publishing. All this separation stuff is hard to write for. I'm sluggish on these chapters. So I'm going to push on through to the end since I'm struggling with it. Most likely it's not going to be good. Thanks for reading anyway.**


	12. Calm Cluster

Calm Cluster

 _Robin opened her eyes. The sky above her was dark grey. Lightning streaked across it before thunder rumbled and rain fell down on her. Just as she was about to sit up, a green umbrella appeared in her sight._

 _"Are you all right, miss?" An old man appeared in her vision next. "What are you doing all the way out here?"_

 _"I'm not sure." Robin said up. She looked around to find herself lying in a field. She pressed her fingers to her temple._

 _"What's your name?" he asked._

 _"Nico Robin," Robin said._

 _"My name is Clem," the man said. "And this is my field you are in. How did you get here?"_

 _"I don't know," Robin said. "I can't seem to remember anything but for my name."_

 _"Poor thing. You must have hit your head," Clem said. "Come with me. My house is close by. Let's get you out of the rain." He offered her his hand. "Once we get you dried off I'll give you a quick exam."_

 _"Exam?" Robin took his hand and stood up._

 _"I use to be a doctor," Clem said leading her away from that spot. "Occasionally, I still practice, but most of the time I like taking care of my animals."_

 _"I see," Robin said. "I must be fortunate to have landed here in the presence of a doctor then."_

 _"Indeed." Their walk took five minutes. Soon two buildings came into view. One was small while the other was three times as big._

 _Robin looked at the largest building. Two large doors were open, showing her several creatures were gathered inside to get away from the rain._

 _"This way," Clem said._

 _Robin walked to the old man. She entered into the small house. The bottom floor was open, holding a living room and a small kitchen. A set of stairs was on the back wall, leading up to the next floor. "This is very nice."_

 _"It's not much, but it's home." Clem folded his umbrella and placed it against the wall. "The wash room is upstairs. The room at the end of the hall has a few clothes inside. They use to belong to the kids. Help yourself to whatever you need. I shall brew us something to drink."_

 _"Thank you." Robin headed to the stairs. The second floor was just as small and nice as the first floor. She headed for the back room first. Looking through the small closet she found a dress that would fit her well enough. Then she went to the bathroom to clean herself up. But the time she got back down stairs lemon and cinnamon was floating in the air. "Something smells good."_

 _"It's a drink my wife use to make," Clem said moving a tray with a pot and two cups to the table. He sat down and gestured for Robin to do the same._

 _Robin sat down and took the cup from him when he offered it. "Thank you."_

 _"Drink that up then I'll get to giving you your exam," Clem said._

 _Robin nodded. The drink was bitter but had a sweet after taste. It didn't take them long to finish their drinks. She sat patiently as Clem looked her head and eyes over._

 _"Hm, well, you don't have any head injuries here," Clem said. "So my guess is you must have gone through something traumatic. It's going to take you a while to get your memories back."_

 _"I see," Robin said._

 _"You're more than welcome to stay here," Clem said putting up his exam tools._

 _"I couldn't impose," Robin said._

 _"I don't mind at all," Clem said. "Besides you need a place to stay. If you want, you can even work for me by helping around the place and at the library."_

 _"Library?" Robin asked, something about the word struck her as familiar._

 _"My wife build a library here several years ago," Clem said. "It's for all the kids on this part of the cluster who can't go into the bigger towns to read books."_

 _"I see," Robin said. "Well, I guess I must accept your offer. It's not like I have anywhere else to go."_

 _"It's settled then." Clem nodded._

 _…_

 _Sanji sat staring out at the water before him then looked up at the sky. "That's odd. Why is the sea so dark? And why is the sky oddly colored?" He dropped his eyes back down to see someone else was lying on the beach. "Who's that?"_

 _Standing up he walked over to the body. With his foot he rolled the person over and took in the person's large shoulders and arms. "This guy's just as weird as the sky and sea. I wonder who he is."_

 _The guy opened his eyes._

 _"So you're awake," Sanji said._

 _"With a super big headache." The guy sat up and rubbed his head. "Where the heck am I?"_

 _"I had that same thought," Sanji said. "As well as who you were."_

 _"I'm Franky," Franky said._

 _"I'm Sanji," Sanji said. "And that looks like all I can remember."_

 _"Funny. I can't remember anything but for my name too," Franky said. "I wonder why."_

 _"Beats me," Sanji said before his stomach grumbled. "But I've apparently haven't eaten in a while."_

 _"I could go for something to eat," Franky said._

 _"Might as well look around then," Sanji said. The two men left the beach. Just over the hill from it they found a town. "Looks like we're in luck."_

 _The two men walked down the hill and followed the dirt path into the town._

 _Sanji scanned his eyes around the shops until his eyes landed on a help wanted sign in one of the restaurants. He plucked the sign out of the window before sitting down with Franky. It took several minutes before an old man rushed over to them._

 _"I'm so sorry," he said. "We're swamped. One of our cooks and one of our servers quite recently. What can I get for you?"  
"We might be able to help you out," Sanji said flashing the sign. "We need food but we're apparently out of money. How about we work here for a while since you're in need of help?"_

 _"I think we might be able to work a deal out. My name's Cass," the man said._

 _"Sanji."_

 _"Franky."_

…

Neo flushed as Law tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Are they always like this?" Zoro asked while watching the two lovebirds sitting together on the deck.

"They weren't at first," Nami said. "But they seem to be warming up to each other more. It shouldn't be surprising since they are married."

"I never knew people could be so sickeningly sweet," Zoro said.

"How would you know? You can't remember anything but for your name," Hoshi said with a smirk.

"Shut up!" Zoro snapped. "You're really annoying. Do you know that?"

"I was stating the obvious fact," Hoshi said. "What's so annoying about that?"

"Keep it up and I'll skin you alive," Zoro said.

Kailen looked up from the chest game he and Topaz was playing. He glanced over at Neo and Law.

"Something wrong, Kailen?" Topaz asked.

"No," Kailen said. "It's just weird how our instincts are still in tact despite our memories being lost. I'm ready to have my memories back."

"Me too. Checkmate," Topaz said.

"Huh?" Kailen started down at the board.

"Maybe you'll play better once you get them back," Topaz said.

Kailen sighed. "Or maybe I'll be worse and just quit."

"This is so boring," Luffy said, hanging upside down from the mast. "Can't we have some fun?"

"You can play a game with me," Topaz said. "You can't be worse than Kailen."

"Boring," Luffy said.

"We're not on this trip to have fun," Nami said.

"We should," Luffy said.

"How much longer are we going to be sailing anyway?" Zoro asked. "It's been four days since we left that last cluster."

"We should be about there" Nami pulled out the compass and put it on. "They're trails are getting thicker. I think we should get there in a few more hours."

"Great! I hope there something fun to do on this island," Luffy said.

"We don't have time for fun, Luffy," Nami said with a sigh. "We have to get our memories back as soon as we can."

"Aw." Luffy dropped to the deck. "Can't we have a little fun?"

"No," Nami said.

"Hey! Neo!" Luffy ran over to the blue haired, distracted, girl. "Neo? Neo?!"

"What?" Neo pulled her attention away from Law.

"I want to have some fun! Play with me!" Luffy said. "You can use your crystals and fly me around!"

"Leave her alone, Straw Hat," Law said. "She's not your slave."

"Of course she's not," Luffy said. "I just want to have some fun."

Law frowned.

"Here." Neo summoned her earth crystal. Weaving around some vines and leaves; she created Luffy a small playground. "Will this help?"

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered. Grabbing onto a vine, he climbed up it and started swinging around.

"He's such a child," Law said.

"I wonder if ours will be like that," Neo said.

"I won't let them," Law said.

"Sure you won't." Neo smirked at him. "You're a softy. You'll let our child get away with more than you let on. I can tell."

Law smiled and shrugged.

"Huh?" Neo perked up.

"What is it?" Law asked.

"There's some kind of creature heading for us. An entire pod of them," Neo said. "And they're very angry."

"Why would some creature-" Before Zoro could finished something slammed against the ship, rocking them hard.

Everyone was thrown off balance.

Law wrapped his arms around Neo, doing his best to keep her from being tossed around too much.

"Ah! What's going on?!" Luffy asked, still swinging above them. The ship was hit again. He lost his grip and fell to the deck.

"Who's attacking us?" Nami asked doing her best not to slide over the wood floor.

Neo grabbed the railing of the ship and pulled herself up. Looking over she saw a pod of dolphins that looked to have some form of armor over their bodies. "What are those things?"

"Shell dolphins," Hoshi said jumping upon the railing. He dug his claws into the wood when a couple more hit their ship. "Usually they're not aggressive. The only time they are is when they have babies. We must have wondered into their nesting grounds."

"Well, I'm not going to go down without a fight," Zoro said pulling out a sword.

"It's not a good idea to fight them. They're numbers are dwindling," Hoshi said. "They're protected."

"Then what do we do?" Nami asked. Five more hits. "If they keep this up the ship won't last much longer!"

"Neo, you have to fly us," Hoshi said.

"Okay." Neo summoned her wind crystals and wrapped the wind around the ship. She lifted them high into the air, but not quick enough. Several more shell dolphins attacked the base of the ship, cracking the wood.

"That can't be good," Luffy said watching a few pieces of their ship fall to the sea.

"Will you be able to fly us to the next cluster?" Nami asked.

"Yes," Neo said. She looked at Law when she felt his anger rise. "I'll be fine. It's not like we have another choice."

Law closed his eyes and took a breath. He looked at her. "Fine. But if you get tired at all set us down immediately."

Neo nodded. "I'll be fine. I can move us fast anyway."

"Just don't over do it," Nami said.

"I won't," Neo said with a smile. "I'm feeling really good right now."

"We're going to have to find us another ship," Zoro said. "Or get this one fixed. Does anyone have any money?"  
"We have some, but I doubt it's enough to buy us another ship," Nami said. "We're just going to have to steal one when we get to the next cluster."

"We're going to need a bigger one anyway," Hoshi said. "This ship is nice but it's too small. Once we find the rest of your friends you're going to need more space until we can get to the capital."

"If we're luck the next cluster is a big one that will have more than enough ships to take," Nami said.

"All you think about is stealing," Hoshi said.

"Don't start that again! We don't have a choice! You do want to find your precious princess, right?!" Nami said.

"Of course," Hoshi said. "I guess she'll just have to make a formal apology to everyone once this is over."

"Then shut up about it!" Nami said.

"Not going to happen. It's not my nature to keep quiet," Hoshi said.

"It will when I cut out your tongue!" Nami said.

"It'll be fine," Neo said. "Like we've already said, we don't have much of a choice. Apologizes can come later."

The hours passed.

"Hey, we're coming up on a cluster," Nami said.

"Good," Neo said. "I'm not sure if I could have flown us any longer."

"We're close enough. I'll warp us the rest of the way," Law said. He lifted his hand. Forming his Room, he warped them to the cluster. "Set us down now."

Neo nodded. She lowered them to the cluster, careful to place the front of the ship on the beach so they wouldn't sink.

"Yahoo!" Luffy jumped from the ship, landing on the beach. "We finally made it!"

"This place looks really…quiet," Nami said scanning her eyes around the cluster. Only a few houses could be seen. The rest of the space was fields with different types of creatures roClemg about them. Some she had seen before on the cluster she was first on.

"That means no fun," Luffy said.

"We've already told you this isn't a pleasure trip," Zoro said.

"He's just crazy," Kailen said.

"So where to first?" Neo asked, slipping her hand snuggly in Law's.

"Our three friends are at different locations. One's closer to us while the other two are farther away," Nami said scanning the cluster. "Although, one of them looks like they're heading towards the other one. Those two are farther away from us."

"Maybe they're together like Kailen and I were," Topaz said.

"Obvious we're going to get the one that's closer first," Kailen said.

"They would be just over that hill," Nami said before leading the way over to the hill. They crossed the sand before getting to the bright grass.

Neo turned her eyes to the creatures in the distance. Some of them only looked up at her while others headed in her direction. It didn't take long for the creatures to reach her. A few looked like combinations of zebras and giraffes while others looked like hairy horses. She giggled as they sniffed and nudged her and the other two elementals out of curiosity.

Hoshi's fur stood on ends. He scoffed. "I don't like them taking your attention from me. I should scare them off."

"Behave." Neo patted his head. "You're riding on my shoulders. Something they can't do."

"So true." Hoshi rubbed against her cheek.

"Animals really love you three," Luffy said.

"They're cute," Topaz said scratching one of the hairy horses.

"I wish we could take them with us," Neo squealed.

"We don't even have a ship anymore," Luffy said. He looked around. "I don't see any either."

"There's probably a port on another side of the cluster," Nami said. "Or I hope there is. I don't want to get stuck here."

"Obviously there are," Hoshi said. "These people don't just sit here all of the time. If they don't then others will be by at some point in time."

"Some point in time," Nami said. "Not raising my hopes." They walled up the hill. Down below it was a small town. "One of them is in that town."

"Let's get going then," Law said.

They walked down the hill.

"You all should stay here," Neo said to the creatures. They reluctantly obeyed her and stayed behind.

Entering into the small town the people barely took notice of the new comers as they went on about their business.

"In there." Nami pointed to a building. A sign hung over the door that had a carved book on it.

"A bookstore?" Neo asked.

"Guess we'll see." Nami walked over to the door. Opening it a small bell jingled above them. The place was small, but the shelves were pact with books. Two kids sat off in the corner, the older one reading to the smaller one.

"Is that her?" Kailen pointed to a long back haired girl.

"It's Robin," Neo said looking at the picture again.

"That was easy," Kailen said.

"Hey! Robin!" Luffy called before running over to the tall woman.

"Huh?" Robin paused in the middle of putting a book back on the shelf. "How do you know my name? Have we met before?"

"Of course we have!" Luffy grinned. "We're friends!"

Robin blinked.

"You'll have to forgive him," Nami said. "He doesn't think before he speaks. Can we talk to you for a minute? Luffy's ramblings actually make a lot of sense. Neo?"

"Uh, here." Neo passed the picture over while Nami told Robin what was going on.

"Interesting," Robin said.

"Robin, is everything okay?" a man asked.

The group turned to the voice. It was an old man. His back hunched over and his hair was streaked with grey.

"Clem," Robin said.

"I see," Clem said after the story was once again told. "That is rather interesting. I take it you'll be leaving now?"

"I'm sorry," Robin said.

"No need to apologize," Clem said. "I knew this would happen. We both did."

"But I can't just leave you," Robin said.

"It'll be all right," Clem said. "I have plenty of friends here. You go on. You need to get your memories back."

"Thank you for everything." Robin hugged the old man before following the others outside. "So what now?"

"We get our other two friends that are on this cluster," Nami said putting the compass back on her eye. "Neo, feel like flying us? Otherwise I think it's going to be a long walk."

"I can," Neo said. Summoning a wind crystal she lifted them into the air. "Though I'm going to need something to eat soon. I'm getting hungry. And so is baby."

"Yeah! Food!" Luffy cheered.

"Fish sounds really good," Neo said.

"Too bad we can't grow that with our crystals," Kailen said.

Neo nodded. A few minutes later they followed Nami's instructions and found themselves landing in a bigger town on the opposite side of the cluster.

"They're in that building," Nami said as she pointed to a restaurant near by.

"Let's eat!" Luffy ran for the building.

The others followed them at a slow pace. They entered, finding only a few people sitting around the room. They sat down with Luffy.

"Food!" Luffy cried.

"Like screaming like that is going to get them to come quicker," Zoro said.

"Food! Food!" Luffy banged his fists on the table.

"Yeah, yeah," a voice said. "I hear ya. I'm coming."

A man with blue hair and large shoulders and arms stepped out of the back door.

"Hey! It's Franky!" Luffy said.

"Huh? You know me?" Franky asked.

"We sure do!" Luffy said. "We're looking for you and another friend of ours."

"Friend, huh?" Franky said eyeing the group before him. "I hate to tell ya this but I don't remember you all."

"That's fine. We don't remember either," Zoro said before the story was told again.

"Ow! That's crazy!" Franky said.

"So which of our other friends is with you?" Luffy asked.

"That would be Sanji," Franky said. "He's in the kitchen. We've been working here ever since we arrived on this cluster."

"Then we should get him and go," Law said.

"No! Food first! I'm starving!" Luffy said.

"We are hungry," Neo said with a flutter of her eyelashes.

Law flushed. "Fine. Let's eat something then figure out how we're going to get out of here."

"Franky's our shipwright. So let him fix the ship," Luffy said.

"He doesn't remember how," Nami said.

"Oh, right. I forgot," Luffy said. "Bring me meat!"

"Do you have a fish dish here?" Neo asked looking at the menu.

Franky took down their orders before going to tell Sanji about them.

"Wow! So many beauties at one table!"

The group turned to find Sanji spinning around with hearts in his eyes.

"Is there something wrong with him?" Luffy asked as Franky sat their meals, which he was expertly balancing on his arms, on the table.

"He's just like that," Franky said. "Been that way since we woke up here. By the way, didn't I hear you before talking about needing to get off this cluster?"

"We sure did," Topaz said. "Our ship got damaged by a pod of shell dolphins."

"Well, don't worry about that," Franky said. "The owner of this place use to be a shipwright."

"Talk about luck," Kailen said.

"While you guys are finishing up your meals I'll go talk to him. I'm sure he'll be glad to help," Franky said.

"Great. Thanks a lot," Kailen said.

…

The old man whistled. His hands were behind his back as he stared up at the ship from under his cap. "Nice ship."

"Think you can fix it for us?" Nami asked.

"I should be able to just fine," Cass said running a hand through his grey hair. "That is if we can get it up off the ground."

"I can handle that," Kailen said. Summoning a couple earth crystals, he lifted the ship up with some thick vines. He then turned to the beach his friends were sitting on and created them some beds out of large flowers. "That should do it."

"Very impressive." The old man nodded before picking up his tool belt and got to work.

"So soft!" Luffy said rubbing his face into the yellow flower petal of his bed.

"And there," Topaz said as she lit a fire for the night. "Now we'll be nice and warm."

"How long is this going to take?" Franky asked.

"Don't worry," Cass said. "It'll be finished by tomorrow."

"Mind if I help?" Franky asked.

"Sure thing," Cass said.

Neo stretched out before lying back on her flowerbed.

"Tired?" Law asked.

"A bit," Neo said.

Law laid down with her. They all relaxed to the sound of Cass fixing the ship.

By the time they had ate breakfast the next day Cass had the ship fix. He even put a few more rooms on the ship so it would accommodate their entire crew when they found the rest of their friends. After saying their thanks the headed off to finish their journey.


	13. Thugs

Thugs

"We're getting closer now," Nami said. "But the trail is really dark. I can barely see it."

"That means we're heading to the Black Hole clusters," Hoshi said.

"Black Hole?" Neo asked.

"It's a cluster of island where the worst of the worst live," Hoshi said. "We'll need to be on our toes and expect to get into a lot of fights."

"Don't worry," Sanji said flipping his bangs. "I'll be there to protect our beloved women. I will not let them get hurt."

"Get over yourself," Zoro said.

"What did you say?!" Sanji growled.

"You heard me," Zoro said.

"Okay, no fighting," Nami said pocketing the compass. "We're almost there. And we'll need our strength the fight the enemy not each other."

"Fine," Sanji and Zoro said.

Twenty minutes later they landed on the cluster. The rocks were black. Several small volcanoes were spotted around the cluster. Tons of disheveled men and women with several tattoos and piercings watched the group's every move.

"It's a good thing we have that compass," Kailen said. "Otherwise we'd never find our friends here."

"We're lucky that they're close together," Nami said. "They must have landed together. Or at least in the same general area."

"Let's just hope they're not in any trouble," Neo said rubbing her hands over her arms. "I don't like this place. There's practically no nature here."

"The foliage and animals will be in the center of the cluster," Hoshi said. "These small volcanoes are all along the edges of the clusters so it's hard for life to be sustained here.

"Just stay close," Law said brushing his thumb over her skin.

Neo nodded and stepped closer to Law, his body warmth soothing her nerves.

"Well, look at what we have here," a man with earrings all over his ears said. He stepped in their way, flanked by ten other men. "You've got a lot of nerve coming to a place like this. This is my territory. Jingo is my name. And I don't like trespassers here. And you're obviously not from around here. So either pay the fine to walk among our clusters or get lost."

"We're not going anywhere until we find who we're looking for," Zoro said.

"And we're not going to pay you anything," Sanji added. "You're just punks looking for a fight."

"Its your funeral then," Jingo said cracking his knuckles. "You're not setting another foot on my cluster."

"Do we really have to fight?" Nami asked with a sigh. "We don't really have time for this."

"Don't worry, my dear," Sanji said. "I'll handle this in just a single moment."

"You? You think a scrawny little man like yourself can defeat all of us?" Jingo asked.

"Why don't we find out?" Sanji smirked.

"Very well. It's your funeral," Jingo said. "Battle ready, guys."

The men around him chuckled.

"Careful," Hoshi said. "Most of them have star flakes."

"I don't care!" Sanji rushed forward.

Zoro followed.

"This is going to be so much fun," Luffy said before joining Sanji and Zoro.

"Think we should stop them?" Robin asked.

"Let them be," Hoshi said. "This could be interesting."

"You better not be expecting them to get hurt," Neo said.

"Of course not," Hoshi said. "Just watch and see. The rest of you be ready to fight."

The group turned their attention to the three diving head first into battle. Luffy had his star flake powers crackling around his skin. Each time he hit or kicked something they would get electrocuted before dropping to the ground.

Sanji leaped into the air. Landing in a handstand, he roundhouse kicked about ten guys before planting a kick on one more guy.

Zoro swing his swords, creating a tornado. The force picked up over thirty men, throwing them several yards away.

"Wait. Where did Jingo go?" Neo said looking around for the missing man.

"I didn't see him walk off," Topaz said.

"Crap! He has a velocity star flake," Hoshi said just before Robin, Nami, and Kailen were knocked off their feet.

"What the heck?!" Topaz summoned her fire crystals. "Where is he?!"

"He's moving very fast!" Hoshi said. "We're not going to be able to keep up with him!"

Topaz was knocked off her feet.

Franky reached out and caught her before she could hit the ground. He placed her back on her feet. "You okay?"

"Fine. Thanks," Topaz said. "But he's clearly going to be a pain to stop."

"Neo, try to slip him up by moving the ground around," Law said.

"I'll try." Neo summoned her earth crystals. They started to glow. The ground, in small patches, started rising and lowering all around them.

"It's slowing him down a little but," Hoshi said. "But we still can't keep up with him.

"I'll get him! Just don't move!" Luffy said. He leaped into the air. "Gum Gum Gatlin!"

The rubber man's punches crashed into the ground. The electricity from his star flake snapped and crackled around them.

"Hey! Careful, Straw Hat! You're going to hit us with that!" Law said.

"Sorry! I'm doing my best!" Luffy said as he continued his assault.

"Let me help," Robin said. She crossed her arms over her chest. Multiple hands sprouted up out of the ground. "Cien Fleurs." She winced. "I can feel him rush by but I can't grab a hold of him."

"Everyone get ready to duck," Law said. He pulled out his sword. "Room. Now duck." Everyone dropped to their knees. He swung his sword around.

"Hey!" Jingo cried out. He came back into their view. His body was now separated at the waist. "What the heck happened?!"

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy pulled back and punched the man in the face. He dropped to the ground, his arm snapping back into place.

"That was not fun," Nami said.

"Says the one who didn't fight," Zoro said putting up his swords.

"These guys are nothing but a bunch of punks," Sanji said blowing out a puff of smoke.

"But they're all not like that. So don't let your guard down," Hoshi said. "They'll get tougher the more we go inland."

"Shall we get going then?" Kailen asked.

"Where to?" Topaz looked at Nami.

Nami placed the compass back on her eye. "It looks like all three of them are near the center of the cluster."

Jingo laughed, drawing everyone's eyes to him. "Yes, go on into the middle of the cluster. That's where the strongest stay. And there are three who rise about us all. They'll be more than glad to have you come see them."

"Shut up." Law sliced his sword again, cutting the man's jaw off. He then sheathed his sword. "We'll be just fine. Worry about yourself. That volcano next to you looks like it's about to erupt."

Jingo turned his eyes to the volcano. He flicked. Red liquid was bubbling over the top.

"Let's get out of here," Law said. Slipping his arm around Neo's waist, he led her away from the man.

"You are so heartless," Hoshi said.

"That's what he gets for trying to hurt Neo and our child," Law said.

"You give me the creeps," Hoshi said.

"Something smells yummy," Luffy then said.

"It does smell like something's cooking," Franky said.

"It might be," Hoshi said. "People do use the lava on this cluster to cook."

"We should stop and eat," Luffy said.

"Is that all you think about?" Law asked.

"We just ate before we arrived here," Nami said. "You can wait until we find our friends."

"This place is very interesting," Robin said as they passed through a small town. The builds were made out of the same rocks they had already seen.

"I don't think I could stand living in a place like this," Nami said. "There's not enough color. It looks like an explosion of charcoal."

"I think it would be a nice place to live if there was more plants and animals around," Neo said.

"Yeah," Kailen said. "It's like this entire place is dead. I don't like it."

"Volcanoes can do that. They kill after all," Topaz said.

"I wonder if I can liven this place up with my crystals," Neo said.

"Don't bother," Law said. "We're here for a short period of time."

"Fine." Neo sighed. "So how many people do you think we're going to have to fight again?"  
"None if you fly us," Hoshi said.

"You people need to stop taking advantage of her abilities," Law said. "It won't kill you all to walk for a while."

"I don't mind," Neo said.

"You can fly later," Law said.

"Okay. If it makes you feel better," Neo said. "I won't fly for a while."

Law nodded.

"This place must have a wonderful history to it," Robin said.

"So boring. How can you think about that right now?" Luffy asked.

"I'm not sure. Working in the library I spent a lot of time reading the books when I wasn't working," Robin said. "It all was very interesting."

"Well, the picture says your our archeologist," Nami said. "So maybe you already like reading books."

"It's possible," Robin said.

"Are we getting closer yet?" Luffy asked an hour later. "I'm tried of walking. And it's getting hotter."

"I didn't notice," Kailen said. "But Luffy's right. It is getting warmer."

"The volcanoes do that. Their temperature rises there for rising the temperature of the cluster," Hoshi said.

"Does that mean the volcanoes are going to erupt?" Nami asked eyeing one as they walked passed it.

"Yup," Hoshi said.

"How can you be so calm in saying that?!" Nami demanded.

"Because I know Neo will protect us," Hoshi said. "Besides we'll be safe inside any of these buildings. All we have to do is go to the upper levels to get away from the majority of the heat."

"Can you tell when they're going to erupt?" Franky asked.

"Nope," Hoshi said.

"I can sense the animals. They're getting upset," Neo said. "So it'll probably happen fairly soon."

"That's going to be so cool," Luffy said. "Let's find some food and cook it when they explode."

"Don't be stupid," Sanji said. "You'd die if you did that."

"But Neo can fly the food over the lava," Luffy said.

"She's not immortal! You moron!" Sanji dropped his heel onto Luffy's head.

"Will you two just shut up?" Zoro said. "It's too hot to deal with you two morons."

"Who you calling a moron?!" Sanji demanded.

"I think we're all getting a little cranky. Here have some water." Neo summoned a water crystal for each other them before pulling them into the air with her wind crystals.

"That was super great!" Franky said.

"Thank you for the water," Robin said.

"I think it was just what we all needed," Nami said.

"Yummy!" Luffy sucked in a lot of water.

"How far are we?" Neo asked.

"That largest rock formation over there," Nami said pointing the one she was talking about. "They're near the bottom of it."

"I hope they're okay," Neo said. "The volcanoes are becoming more and more active."

"We better hurry then," Sanji said.

Neo nodded. She picked up speed and got them there in a few seconds. Several people were standing around the bottom of the rocks. "Should I lower us down?"

"Yes," Law said.

Neo lowered them down. She shivered at the cold looks the people gave them as they landed.

"Let's not fight again," Topaz said.

Kailen nodded. They summoned their crystals. Flaring them up with their elements, they held them directly at the thugs' faces. "We're looking for three people. Just stay out of our way and you won't get hurt."

"What kind of star flakes are these?"

"They can't stop us. Let's just fight them."

"You go right ahead."

"Coward."

"Who you calling a coward?!"

"Flaming Star!" someone called out.

"Not today!" Topaz summoned a crystal at the bird shaped fire coming right at them.

"What was that?" Zoro asked.

"That was so cool!" Luffy said.

"Ah!" someone laughed. "You are powerful if you can stop my flames!"

"Who's talking?" Robin asked as she and everyone else looked around.

"You're in trouble now," a woman said. "Usopp is one of the three kings who rule this cluster."

"Usopp?" Luffy asked. "Isn't he one of our friends?"

"Yeah." Neo nodded.

The woman laughed. "You're out of your minds. King Usopp doesn't have friends outside of this cluster."

"He's up there," Law said.

Neo followed his eyes to find Usopp standing on a balcony of the rock building they were standing at.

"You fiends will not get away with hurting my people." Usopp pulled back his slingshot. "I am all mighty and powerful! I have a hundred million men getting ready to strike you down! Run while you can!"

"Neo," Law said.

Neo nodded. Summoning an earth crystal near Usopp, she wrapped a vine around him, trapping his arms to his sides.

"Hey! Let me go!" Usopp shouted and squirmed. "I am the might Usopp! I am one of the three kings! You can't do this!"

"Just shut up," Zoro said. "You're annoying."

"We only want to talk to you," Neo said holding up the picture for him. "Look at this."

"What's that?" Usopp said. "What?! How dare you?! That is a fake!"

"It's not," Neo said. "You don't remember anything but for your name, right?"

"How did you know that?" Usopp asked.

"We all are like that," Law said.

"We're gathering everyone in that picture in hopes to get our memories back," Kailen said. "There should be two others here with you. Do you recognize anyone on the picture?"

"Yeah," Usopp said. "My fellow kings. Shachi and Penguin." He looked over his shoulder. "They're inside."

"We need to talk to them as well," Neo said.

"Oh, fine," Usopp said. "Let's go inside. You can let go of me. I won't attack you again."

"Okay," Neo said releasing her vines from them.

"You people are really strong," Usopp said leading them inside. "We heard about what you all did at the beach."

"That was just a little while ago," Nami said.

"News really does travel fast," Hoshi said.

The group scanned their eyes around the black hall. Small lights were mounted all over the wall but barely gave them enough light to see. They passed several doors. Some thugs were standing in the doorways, watching them carefully. Soon they passed through a doorway into a large cave like room. Several large pillows were scattered in the back of the room. Two guys wearing identical suits were sitting on the pillows with a couple of women gathered around them.

"Who are they?" Shachi asked.

"What's going on, Usopp?" Penguin asked.

"You guys are going to want to hear what these people have to say," Usopp said. "Apparently we're friends with them."

Penguin and Shachi looked at each other before hearing them out.

"It's insane," Usopp said staring at the picture that Neo was once again holding out. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah," Shachi said. "But we're all right there. How did this happen?"  
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Topaz said.

"How did you three get to this point?" Nami asked. "I mean being the three kings or whatever?"

"Well, we just woke up here one day," Penguin said. "We all had lost our memories but for our names. Thinking whatever happened clearly happened to all of us. There were these three strange star shaped thing sitting beside each other. Soon we learned what they were and where we were. Then it was only a matter of time before we moved up the ladder."

"We apparently have strengths that those living here do not," Shachi said. "And with the star flakes we were even more powerful."

"Especially me," Usopp said. "My skills with this slingshot are unrivaled."

"If only he wasn't such a coward," Shachi said.

"Hey! I pull my own weight around here even if I don't have a star flake!" Usopp said.

"Yeah right! You run and hide every single time there's a fight!" Shachi said.

"I'm a sniper! We're not supposed to be seen!" Usopp said.

"Lousy excuse!" Shachi said.

The ground rumbled.

"That can't be good," Franky said.

"The volcanoes are about to erupt," Neo said. "We don't have much time."

"Then we need to get going," Law said. He looked at the three. "You are coming, right?"

Penguin, Usopp, and Shachi looked at each other.

"It's not like we're doing anything here that will get our memories back," Usopp said.

"You've got a point," Shachi said.

"And this might be our only chance of getting them back," Penguin said.

"Then let's go," Law said before another rumble shook the ground beneath them.

Neo wrapped her winds around them. She flew them back down the black hall as several others were running in the opposite direction. Exiting the building, they found several volcanoes were erupting already.

"What?! We're going to die!" Usopp screamed.

"So cool!" Luffy said holding his hat to his head.

A stream of lava shot up right in front of them.

"Room! Shambles!" Law warped them to the other side of the stream of lava.

"Nice move, Tra!" Luffy said.

"That was way too close," Nami said.

"I'll fly a little higher," Neo said lifting them higher in the air. She looked down. The volcanoes were starting to erupt more. The lava was bright against the darkness of the rocks. Looking back up she got them to the ship in just a few minutes.

"We better get out of here before the lava starts pouring into the sea," Nami said rushing up to the helm.

"I've got this," Neo said. She lifted the ship up and pushed them out to sea.

"Wow," Penguin said. "What kind of star flake do you have?"

"I don't," Neo said with a sigh.

"You should sit down," Law said.

Neo nodded and sat in one of the chairs they had on the deck. "I'm an elemental. I can control the elements."

"You okay? You don't look very good," Penguin said.

"I'm fine," Neo said rubbing her stomach. "Just tired."

"You're pregnant?" Shachi asked.

Neo nodded. "I am. And that's on reason I really want to get our memories back." She looked at Law. "I want to remember our relationship."

Law nodded.

"So you two…" Penguin pointed back and forth between the two.

"We're married," Law said giving the three new men a pointed look.

"Hey, don't look at me," Usopp said. "She's cute but I have no interest in dating her."

"Same!" Shachi and Penguin said quickly.

"Sails are down," Zoro said as he and Sanji dropped down from above.

"And we are out of here!" Nami shouted. "Only three more friends to go!"

"Let's eat!" Luffy threw his hands into the air. "Neo, I'm hungry!"

"Neo is not cooking right now," Law said. "She's going to rest. And if anyone argues I'll cut them into a million pieces and stick them to the side of the ship."

"I'll take care of the cook," Sanji said stepping over to Neo. He took her hand and kissed it. "You just rest and take care of yourself and that sweet little package you're carrying."

Law pulled out his sword and pointed the blade right at Sanji's neck.

Sanji chuckled nervously.

"It's all right, Law," Neo said. "He's just being friendly."

"He can be a little less friendly," Law said sheathing his sword.

"Come on," Kailen said. "I'll show you three around the ship."

Usopp, Shachi, and Penguin followed Kailen into the ship.

Neo slumped in her chair. "I can't wait until this is over."

Law nodded in agreement.

"So what star flakes do you two have?" Nami asked when the other returned to the deck.

"I have a velocity," Penguin said. "It gives me super fast speed."

"And I use a nebula," Shachi said. "It creates a cloud of gas that temporarily disables those who breathe it in. My flake is less known."

"No wonder you three were at the top of the thugs," Franky said. "With those types of abilities you all are super strong."

"Strong enough," Penguin said. "But we're still not strong enough to face up to the Astro Units."

"They've been all over the cluster a few weeks ago," Shachi said. "We're not sure what they were looking for. But whatever it is they either found it and left or found it wasn't there and left."

"I wonder where those guys are," Nami said. "We've only ran into them once before."

"They might have gotten called back to the capital by Kuro for some reason," Hoshi said. "It is odd that we haven't seen them. Something must be happening. We need to hurry and find the last of your friends."

"So the last ones are Bepo, Brook, and Chopper," Neo said. "I hope they're fine wherever they are."

"I hope they're easy to get to," Nami said. "I'm really getting tired of this."

"I like it," Luffy said. "It's been fun."

"Just shut up," Zoro said.

"I'm ready to get back to my old self too," Sanji said. "I don't like not knowing who I am or where I came from."

"I think we all can agree on that one," Topaz said.


	14. How it Happened

How it Happened

Chopper sighed as he rolled off the ball he was standing on. "This is such a pain. How did it end up like this?"

Chopper scanned his eyes over the room that he, Brook, and Bepo were currently in. All three of them were dressed in sparkling pink tutus. Brook was chained in the corner playing his violin while Bepo was in the middle of the room juggling some balls. And their _owner_ was sitting in her throne like chair watching them with glee. He thought back to the first day that they woke up here.

 _"What's going on?" Chopper asked. He grabbed the chain that was around his neck. "What is this?!"_

 _"We're prisoners apparently," someone said._

 _Chopper looked around until he saw a large white bear. "Ah! Scary! Don't eat me!"_

 _"I couldn't even if I wanted to," the bear said._

 _"Why?" Chopper asked._

 _"I'm chained down as well," he said pulling on his chain. "I'm Bepo by the way."_

 _"Chopper," Chopper said. "So where are we?" He scanned his eyes around again and spotted a skeleton. "Ah! We're going to die!"_

 _"Hey, what's with all the yelling?" the skeleton asked._

 _"Ah! It can talk!" Chopper said._

 _"Ah! It can talk!" the skeleton said._

 _"Why are you yelling?!" Chopper asked._

 _"Why are you?!" the skeleton asked._

 _"Will you two calm down? We're in the same situation," Bepo said. "We're all chained down."_

 _"He's right," the skeleton said. "So who are you animals? I'm Brook."_

 _"Chopper."_

 _"Bepo."_

 _"And how did you all get here?" Brook asked._

 _"I don't remember," Bepo and Chopper said. They exchanged looks. "You two?"_

 _"What's going on here?" Brook asked. "I can't seem to remember how I got here either. In fact, I can't even remember anything but my name."_

 _"Same," Bepo and Chopper said._

 _"Okay, this is just weird," Brook said._

 _"Yeah! They're awake!" a voice shrieked. There was a click and a light washed over the room. Standing there near a door was a curly blonde hair girl dressed in a pink frilly dress. "I'm so happy my new pets are wake!"_

 _"New pets?!" the three shrieked. "What are you talking about?"_

 _"Oh! You can talk!" The girl flushed. "I knew I did the right thing in saving you!"_

 _"What are you talking about?" Brook asked._

 _"I found you three lying on the beach," she said. "I knew you all were hurt. So I brought you home. Daddy says I can keep you." She skipped over to them. "And now that I know you all can talk we're going to have loads of fun!"_

 _"Who are you?" Chopper asked._

 _"Angel," she said. "And this is my room."_

Chopper sighed. They had been trapped here since. He jumped at the snap and crack of a whip.

"Get up!" Angel said. "We're not done playing circus!"

"Right!" Chopper jumped up and crawled back on the ball.

…

"Should we wake her?" Nami asked looking at Neo.

Neo was curled up on a flowerbed that she had created forty five minutes ago. She had been asleep ever since then. They had finally arrived on the cluster where their remaining three friends were. Several clusters were together. The entire place was called Seyfert. It was a place where the majority of the rich lived on this sea. It was also very close to the capital.

Hoshi was standing on the railing, his eye turned in the direction of the capital. He swished his tail in annoyance.

"No, let her sleep," Law said. "I'm sure we all don't have to go this time. So I'll be staying here."

"I'll stay here too," Penguin said.

"Then lets get going already," Luffy said while jogging in place.

"Hoshi, you coming?" Nami asked.

"I might as well." Hoshi jumped down from the railing. "I'd much rather stay with Neo but you all might need my help."

"Are we going to be in trouble here?" Franky asked.

"Most likely not," Hoshi said. "But we still need to be careful. The Astro Units should still be looking for us." He glanced back out at the sea. "Or they should be. I'm still not sure why we haven't seen them since that last time."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and they won't show up ever again," Shachi said.

"Or they're waiting to ambush us at the right time," Usopp said.

"Let's just go," Nami said. "The quicker we get our last three friends the quicker we can get our memories back."

The pirates, but the few that were staying behind, climbed down the rope ladder. They made their way into the brightly lit town.

"Wow!" Luffy said. "Looks like another gambling place! We should stop and have some fun!"

"Get real, Luffy," Nami said. She grabbed his cheek and pulled him along when he stopped. "Come on."

They continued walking through the town until the sidewalk led them up to a large mansion just on the edge of the busy city.

"Is that it?" Robin asked.

"That's it." Nami removed the compass and placed it in her pocket. She then pointed to the smaller west wing of the building. "They should be in there."

"What is this place?" Sanji asked. "Should there be guards watching such a fancy building?"

"Not necessarily," Hoshi said. "Remember some people have star flakes. And some don't care. They think their money will save them all the time."

"Let's just check this place out," Zoro said. "It doesn't look like anyone's home. Let's just get them and get back to the ship."

"Well, the gate is open," Robin said.

"Then let's go," Topaz said. She lead them all into the large yard and over to the wing. They slipped up to the window and peaked inside.

"What's going on?" Zoro asked. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Are they wearing tutus?" Franky asked.

"Looks like there's only that kid inside," Nami said.

"This should be easy then," Franky said. "Think she has a star flake?"

"No, I don't sense one on her," Hoshi said. "There might be a door-" Loud rumbling cut the guardian off. Looking to his left he found Zoro had cut a large section of the wall off. "That was completely unnecessary!"

"What? You all said we were in a hurry," Zoro said.

"You are way too calm!" Hoshi said.

"Might as well go inside," Sanji said as they entered through the hole.

"What the heck?! Who are you people?!" Angel jumped off her chair. "I am Angel! This is my room! Get out! You do not belong here!"

"Sorry, girl," Nami said. "But those three are our friends."

"No! They're mine! I own them!" Angel said. "My daddy is rich, you know?! He'll have you ruined!"

"Geez. She's annoying." Zoro walked over to her. Grabbing her by the collar, he pulled her over to the closet and tossed her inside before putting a chair up against the doorknobs, keeping her inside.

"Hey! Let me out of here!" Angel pounded on the door. "You're going to pay for this! Let me out!"

"What's going on?" Chopper asked.

"It spoke," Robin said.

"I'm not an it! I'm Chopper!" Chopper said.

"Who are you people?" Brook asked.

"We're friends," Sanji said walking up to them. With a couple kicks he hand their chains shattered. "Come with us. We'll explain everything back on the ship."

"You smell different," Bepo said to Topaz.

"Really?" Topaz said. "I guess that's because I'm an elemental."

"A what?" Brook asked.

"I'm going to have you killed if you don't let me out of here!" Angel said.

"Let's get out of here before that happens," Franky said.

"Come on," Nami said.

"I'm going," Bepo said. "It's got to be better that here."

"Yeah." Chopper and Brook nodded.

…

Neo stretched out her body before opening her eyes. Turning to her left she found Law sitting in a chair reading a book. He turned and smiled at her. She sat up and looked around. "Hey. How long have I been a sleep?"

"For about an hour," Law said.

"Are we at…why didn't you wake me up?" Neo asked.

"You needed your rest," Law said. "You've been pushing us far too hard."

"Besides, the others should be back soon," Kailen said. He kept his eyes on the island until he could see their group coming running towards them. "And there they are."

"Hey! We got them!" Luffy cried out. He pulled himself on deck while the others climbed up the ladder.

"So what now?" Sanji asked. "How do we get our memories back?"

"If Tsuki had a hand in it the memories coming back should be automatic," Hoshi said just before a bright light flashed around them.

 _"I'm so bored!" Luffy cried out. He was laying sprawled out over the deck of the Sunny. The entire crew, plus a few Heart Pirates were gathered around. The wind wasn't blowing at the moment so they were just relaxing. Or most of them were. Zoro was lifting weights in the crow's nest, Robin was reading, Nami was sunning herself, Franky and Usopp were playing a game of chest, and the rest were scattered around the deck._

 _"If you don't stop complaining I'm going to throw you overboard!" Sanji growled._

 _"I have to admit that I'm a little bored myself," Neo said. "It's been several weeks since we landed on an island." She placed her hand on her stomach when their baby kicked her. "Our son's bored too."_

 _"You're making that up." Law smiled._

 _"Am not." Neo stuck her tongue out at him._

 _"Don't worry, my sweet little fairy," Sanji said. "I'm sure things will liven up soon."_

 _"Maybe we should go for a swim," Neo said._

 _"Yeah!" Luffy and Chopper cheered._

 _"You feeling up to it?" Law asked. "I can tell you're tired."_

 _"Maybe, but I think it's more just sitting around doing nothing," Neo said. "I need to move."_

 _"Well," Law said._

 _"We won't go far," Neo said. "That way if I get too tired you can easily warp us back to the ship."_

 _"All right," Law said. "But no longer than an hour."_

 _"Anyone else want to go?" Neo asked._

 _"I'll come," Penguin said._

 _"I'm staying here," Shachi said._

 _Bepo just snored as he was enjoying a nap._

 _"I'm going to stay here this time," Topaz said._

 _"Me too," Kailen said. "Have fun."_

 _When no one else said they were going, Neo summoned a wind and water crystal. She formed an air bubble around them and lowered them into the water._

 _"Yeah! This is so much fun!" Luffy said as he watched several colorful fish swim by._

 _"Just don't pop the bubble," Penguin said._

 _"Neo's got it covered," Luffy said._

 _"Still, we shouldn't take any chances," Penguin said. "And we only have an hour before the captain wants Neo back on the ship."_

 _"We'll be back in time," Chopper said._

 _"Hey, what's that?" Luffy asked._

 _"What's what?" Penguin asked._

 _"That." Luffy pointed in the distance. The pirates turned their attention in the direction he was pointing. A large shadow was moving towards them._

 _"Is it a sea king?" Penguin asked._

 _"I don't think so," Neo said. "It feels half the size of a sea king. I think it's some sort of a large fish. I've never sensed one like this before."_

 _The shadow swam closer to them. The closer it got the more visible it became. Is glided along side them, showing off its shimmering rainbow colored scales._

 _"Wow!" Chopper said. "It's so pretty."_

 _"I wonder where it came from," Neo said scanning the fish. There appeared to be some sort of hooks on the fish's fins. "I've never seen anything like it."_

 _"Do you think it tastes good?" Luffy asked._

 _"Let's not find out," Penguin said. "We have-"_

 _"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy threw a punch out at the fish._

 _"Straw Hat!" Penguin shrieked._

 _The punch hit the fish. Its tail flew up towards the Sunny, nailing it with its hook. It then swam off, taking the ship with it._

 _"Ah! It's taking off with the Sunny!" Chopper screamed._

 _"Wait! Come back!" Neo said but the fish didn't listen. She took them to the surface._

 _"Hey, what's going on?! Where's the Sunny going?!" Jean Bart asked from the sub._

 _"A fish has it! Get the sub going and follow us!" Neo said. "I'll leave a trail of seaweed for you to follow!"_

 _"Aye!" Jean Bart said._

 _Neo took off for the Sunny. Increasing her winds she managed to catch up to it and land on the deck. The pirates were scatter on the deck now from the sudden jerk. "Law! Is everyone okay?"_

 _"We're fine," Law said adjusting his hat._

 _"What happened?" Nami asked._

 _"Luffy punched a fish," Penguin said. "It has these strange hooks on its fins. One of the got caught in the Sunny."_

 _"A fish is doing this?" Franky asked._

 _"I've never seen one before," Neo said. "Its scaled was shimmering rainbows."_

 _"Where do you think it's taking us?" Sanji asked._

 _"Is that a cave?" Usopp asked._

 _"Where is this fish taking us?" Nami ran up to the helm to look at the cave Usopp spotted._

 _"Hey! What's going on down there?" Zoro asked._

 _"Zoro, get the binoculars and check what that thing is we're heading for!" Nami said._

 _"It looks like a cave," Zoro said._

 _"Is this fish actually heading for it?" Robin asked._

 _"Why would it do that?" Shachi asked._

 _"Maybe it's the fish's home?" Bepo asked. "Can you talk to it, Neo?"  
"I've been trying but it won't listen," Neo said._

 _"Luffy must have stressed it out too much," Kailen said. "It's not listening to us either."_

 _"I guess we have no choice but to follow until the fish calms down enough for us to talk to it," Topaz said._

 _"Hey! We're going into the cave!" Luffy said from the figurehead._

 _"Are there any obstacles we need to be concerned about?" Law asked._

 _"No," Neo said. "We shouldn't hit any rocks, but…"_

 _"What?" Sanji asked._

 _"I think there's another sea in that cave," Neo said._

 _"Another sea?" Brook asked. "That's not possible."_

 _"No, I can sense it too," Topaz said. "That cave leads to somewhere."_

 _"All right! We're going on an adventure!" Luffy said._

 _The pirates gasped. The walls of the cave were glittering like stars in the sky. A few minutes later they were exiting the cave. Another round of gasps escaped them._

 _"What is this place?!" Sanji asked._

 _"Why is they sea black?! Are those stars in it?" Penguin asked._

 _"The sky is wrong too! It's different shades of purple!" Shachi said._

 _The fish continued to pull them. It took a sharp turn to its right, detaching itself from the ship. The Sunny went flying towards and island. It came to rest on the beach, throwing the pirates all over the deck of the ship._

 _"Neo!" Law's heart jerked. He turned his attention to find she had lifted herself and him into the air before they hit._

 _"Could have saved us as well," Penguin said._

 _"Sorry." Neo smiled._

 _"Great. She just had to enter into a playful mood swing," Shachi said pulling himself up to his feet._

 _"Nami, do you know what this place is?" Robin asked._

 _"No," Nami said looking around. "I've never even heard about a place like this."_

 _"Where do you think we are?" Brook asked._

 _"At some castle apparently," Franky said._

 _"Is it possible that we've landed at a Celestial Dragon's place?" Nami asked. "This could cause trouble."_

 _"Don't worry, my sweet Nami," Sanji said. "I'll protect you."_

 _"I don't think we're in the New World," Robin said. "Or at least the parts we know about. This looks to be connected to the sea still."_

 _"Might as well look around," Nami said._

 _Neo lifted them and placed them down on the beach. Just as they started walking towards the castle a large eruption happened._

 _"What the heck was that?!" Sanji asked._

 _"That was a super big explosion," Franky said._

 _"Let's go check it out!" Luffy said before dashing off._

 _"Luffy! Come back here!" Nami called._

 _"Why can't he run away from explosions for once?" Shachi asked._

 _"Might as well follow him," Penguin said. "We're getting involved whether we want to or not."_

 _They followed him._

 _"What the heck is going on?!" Bepo shrieked when they reached the fight._

 _Several guys, dressed in the same uniform, were firing electrical attacks, running at fast speeds, throwing meteors around, and forming some kind of gas clouds._

 _"Are they all devil fruit users?" Nami asked._

 _"That can't be," Franky said. "They all have the same powers. Devil fruits don't work that way."_

 _"It doesn't matter! That girl needs help!" Luffy punched his fists into his palm before running towards the fight._

 _"Girl? What girl?" Kailen asked._

 _"The one with the scepter apparently," Chopper said._

 _Neo turned her attention to the girl. She looked about her height with long white hair. The girl was wielding a long scepter with what looked to be a twelve pointed star on the top._

 _"It looks like she's fighting alone," Brook said._

 _"What?! How dare they attack an innocent girl like that?! They're horrible! I shall smash them all!" Sanji ran towards the fight._

 _"What a moron," Zoro said before following._

 _The rest of the pirates joined in the fight._

 _Neo summoned her crystals. Using her winds she blew several men off their feet, trapped some in vines and the ground, while burning up their weapons with their fire crystals. Before long the strangely dressed men pulled back and disappeared on their ships._

 _The girl dropped to her knees._

 _Neo rushed over to her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"_

 _"I'm okay," the girl said through her pants. She looked up with her dark blue eyes. They were sparkling with white specks, like stars. "Just a bit tired. I'm so glad you all came along when you did. I don't know how long I would be able to hold them off." She looked up at Neo. "But who are you? I don't think I've ever seen you around here before. And you have the presence of the sun on you."_

 _"Presence of the sun?" Neo asked. "What does that mean?"  
"It means you're not from this sea," the girl said standing up. "My name is Tsuki. I'm the ruler of the Star Line. Those men you fought off work for someone who's trying to take over my throne. They're called the Astro Unit."_

 _"Wow! A beautiful royal!" Sanji said._

 _"Someone's trying to throw you off your throne?" Nami asked._

 _"Yes. Though I'm not sure who it is," Tsuki said. "So who are you all?"  
"I'm Neo. And these are my friends and family," Neo said before everyone introduced themselves._

 _"It's nice to meet you all. Please, come to my castle," Tsuki said. "I'll have the kitchen prepare a meal for you all."_

 _"Yeah! Food!" Luffy cried. They followed their new friend to the castle._

 _Neo scanned the area carefully, taking in all the strange plants and the greenish blue walls of the castle. She took Law's hand in hers._

 _'Nervous?' Law asked through their bond._

 _'No, not really,' Neo said. 'Tsuki's nice. I can tell.'_

 _'Good to know that,' Law said._

 _'I'm more concerned about those guys who were attacking,' Neo said._

 _'I doubt they'll come back very soon. We took them by surprise.'_

 _'I hope you're right.'_ _Neo focused back on the castle to find they had arrived at a large room with a large table. Within minutes several maids at the table filled with several variety of dishes._

 _"Princess Tsuki," a man said as he walked into the room. "Are you all right? I heard you were out fighting again."_

 _"I'm fine, Kuro," Tsuki said. "These people helped and I was able to drive the Astro Unit away. They have some amazing powers and skills that don't belong to the star flakes."_

 _"I'm so glad you're safe," Kuro said with a soft smile._

 _Neo looked at the man. He was a couple inches taller than Law with black hair and eyes. A shiver ran up and down her spine when he looked at her._

 _'What is it, love?' Law brushed his thumb over Neo's skin._

 _'There's something wrong with him. We should keep a close eye on him.'_

 _'Okay. Keep calm and keep a straight face.'_

 _'I'll be fine.'_

 _"Please enjoy your meal," Kuro said. He bowed to them then left the room._

 _"What are star flakes?" Robin asked._

 _"This." Tsuki reached into her pocket and pulled out a small star. "Those powers the Astro Unit has come from these. Anyone can use them. All you have to do is place them on your skin. You can remove them anytime you want."_

 _"They sound like devil fruits," Nami said. "Only without the removing part."_

 _"Devil fruit?" Tsuki asked._

 _"I ate the Gum Gum devil fruit," Luffy said pulling his cheek away from his face. "I'm a rubber man now."_

 _"I ate the revive revive devil fruit and now I'm a living skeleton," Brook said._

 _"I ate the human human devil fruit," Chopper said. "I'm a reindeer that can transform into a human."_

 _"I ate the Op Op devil fruit," Law said. "I can modify a person's body among other things."_

 _"So what brought you to the Star Line?" Tsuki asked._

 _"This nut case." Shachi jerked his thumb at Luffy._

 _"Hm?" Luffy chomped on his food._

 _"We were swimming in the sea," Neo said. "He aggravated a fish with hooks on its fins. One of his hook caught on the ship and the fish pulled us here."_

 _"Oh, yeah. I am familiar with those fish," Tsuki said. "They're not ones you should mess with. I take it you'll need some time to fix your ship?"_

 _"I can have it fix in no time," Franky said._

 _"I see. Well, you're more than welcome to stay here as long as you like," Tsuki said. "It's nice to meet other from the other sea."_

The pirates blinked. The image running through their minds switched to a fierce battle.

 _"Sorry, Princess," Kuro said. "You're never going to see your friends again. "Star Scepter! I command you scatter these pirates to the farthest reaches of the Star Line! And erase their memories so they may never interfere with my plans again!"_

 _"No!" Tsuki lunged forward. She grabbed the scepter. "Star Scepter! I am your true owner! Do not let them lose their memories! And do not scatter them!"_

 _"Scatter them! Forget everything!" Kuro said._

 _"No don't! Suppress there memories if you must but do not erase them! And let them remember when they are finally together again!" Tsuki cried before a bright light flashed._

 _The pirates lifted into the air and were scattered._

"That's it! I remember now!" Usopp said.

"Kuro stole the scepter when we all were sleeping. Tsuki was able to grab the scepter in time to keep Kuro from erasing our memories," Nami said. "They were only suppressed. Tsuki did the best she could with what little control she had over the scepter."

"I guess that explains why we were able to do the things we did," Neo said looking at all.

Law nodded.

"So what now?" Usopp asked. "What happened to Tsuki after that? Do you think he killed her?"

Everyone glanced at Hoshi. He shook his head. "No, I know she's alive. If she wasn't then I wouldn't have been summoned to find you all."

"So where do you think she is?" Penguin asked.

"Kuro wouldn't let her get far from his grasp," Hoshi said. "My guess is she's somewhere in the castle."

"He was a tough opponent before," Zoro said. "How are we going to beat him this time?"

"We will," Luffy said punching a fist into his hand. "I'm going to kick his butt!"

"We need to get the scepter away from him," Hoshi said. "But once we do we need it in Tsuki's hands. She's the true wielder of it. You only lost the last battle because you were ambushed. I'm sure it will be different this time."

"Yes, but we're going to need a very detailed plan to pull this off," Robin said. "And I think Neo and Law should spilt up and be the leaders of two groups."

Neo looked up at Law.

"You two can communicate with each other through your bond," Robin continued. "Once we know Tsuki is a live and safe, Tra can warp the scepter out of Kuro's hands and into Tsuki's."

"The rest of us can create a distraction," Sanji said. "But a small group should go with Neo. Kuro would notice if a large number of us were missing."

"I'm going with her," Hoshi said. "I know the layout of the castle better than anyone."

"And I'll go," Chopper said. "Just in case Neo needs a doctor."

"Then it's settled," Luffy said.

"Not quite," Law said.

"What's left?" Bepo asked.

"Those strange blue crystals that Laden was gathering," Law said.

"What blue crystals?" Usopp asked.

"I think I might know what he's talking about," Robin said. "I read about a certain blue crystal that could summon a powerful weapon."

"I think I read about that too," Neo said. "I came across a library shortly after I woke up. I was trying to learn about memory lost."

"What was it about?" Brook asked.

Neo thought for a moment. "It was about a powerful crystal that's said to be able to shape and reshape the clusters into a powerful weapon. It's said that the sailor was able to move the clusters and form the weapon. He uncovered a lot of hidden treasure that made him greedy. He killed anyone who didn't give him what he wanted. The more greedy he became the more powerful the crystal seemed to become. Many began to suffer and a lot died from dissent. Before long the crystal had turned to liquid and covered his body. The man became a tyrant until one day a young girl arrived. The crystal reacted to her. Somehow she was able to pull the crystal from the man's body and put everything back to normal. In order for this to never happen again she shattered the crystal and scattered it over the Star Line in hopes that it would never be found and used again. In doing so she was granted the star scepter to help rule over the Star Line. Her descendants have been watching over the Star Line since then with the scepter by their side."

"I remember reading about that story as well," Robin said.

"I wonder if that girl is Tsuki," Usopp said.

"If not it's possible she's related to the girl in the book," Robin said.

"If that's the crystals that Laden had then we might be too late," Law said. "The story never mentioned how many pieces the crystal was shattered into, right?"

"It didn't," Robin said. "It could have been a counter measure too."

"Either way we need to get back to the castle," Sanji said. "Neo, I hate to ask you this, but you need to get us there as fast as you can."

"I'll do my best," Neo said.

"And I'll help as much as I can," Kailen said. "I'll call up as many sea creatures to help us like I did when I took you all to Luminous."

"Then let's go," Nami said.

"Neo, you use your crystals for a while then I want you to rest. Kailen can take over for a while after that," Law said.

"Okay." Neo nodded. Summoning a hundred wind crystals, she picked the ship up and headed towards the castle.


	15. Conclusion

Conclusion

"There it is!" Hoshi said as the large castle came into view. He instantly spotted no ships were at the docks. "The Astro Unit doesn't appear to be around. But expect them to show up."

"You can also expect Laden and his crew to show up," Law said. "I doubt they'll let go of what we did to them."

Neo placed them near the docks. She then lifted them off the ship once Franky had dropped the anchor. She rushed them to the castle.

"Oh crap! We're too late!" Zoro said when they reached the castle grounds. Kuro was there with an almost completed crystal structure.

"That's right, pirates," Kuro said placing the last blue crystal into place, forming a giant star.

"What's going on?!" Usopp cried when the ground started rumbling, waves crashed on the shores, animals scattered and cowered down in fear.

"He's moving the clusters into one," Robin said. "We have to stop him or everyone will die!"

"We need Tsuki for that!" Kailen said.

"Then Neo and her group should go!" Sanji said.

"Be careful, Neo," Law said.

"You too, Law," Neo said. "We'll wait until Kuro's distracted."

"So good of you pirates to come back," Kuro said. "I so enjoyed our battle last time."

"You only caught us off guard! That's not going to happen again!" Luffy ran towards Kuro. "Gum Gum Gatlin!"

"Velocity," Kuro said. The star on the staff started glowing. He easily dodged Luffy's punches.

Sanji and Zoro ran towards Kuro.

Kuro fired several meteors at them, slowing them down. They kicked and sliced the meteors.

Usopp and Franky fired their attacks.

Robin crossed her arms over her chest. Her extra hands grabbed onto Kuro's ankles.

Kuro tried to get free, but wasn't quick enough. Usopp and Franky's attacks hit him, but did no damage. Kuro said, "Nice try. But I'm far more powerful now that I have this scepter and the crystal. You pirates don't stand a chance."

"We'll see about that! Gum Gum Giant Hammer!" Luffy swung at Kuro.

Neo, deciding this was the right moment, slipped away with Chopper, Kailen, and Hoshi. Hiding behind some bushes she watched Law for a few more seconds before forcing herself away. "Be careful guys."

They rushed towards the castle, using the statues and bushes to keep hidden from Kuro's sight. Finally, they entered into the castle and into the foyer.

Neo scanned her eyes around the halls. Everyone still seemed to be in place the last time they were here. The paintings were on the walls, the tables were still standing, and the only thing that was missing was Tsuki.

"So where would she be?" Chopper asked.

"I'm not sure," Hoshi said. "There're so many rooms in this castle I don't even know where to look."

"The throne room," Neo said.

"Why would you think that?" Hoshi asked.

"Back on my island there's a secret room behind the thrones. It's where they keep all the birth medallions of past royals. They are sacred. So that room was build specially for them. If I was going to keep someone trapped that's where I would hide them. The dungeon, towers, or bedrooms would be too obvious."

"Well, it's not like we have any leads," Chopper said. "We might as well check it out."

"Then let's check it out," Hoshi said. He took the lead and led the group down the hall to the throne room.

They entered.

"The tapestries are missing," Neo said. "But it looks like everything else is in place."

They walked over to the thrones and stepped behind them. She ran her hand over the smooth wall.

"I don't see anything," Chopper said. "Maybe she's not here?"

"Then I don't know where else she would be," Neo said.

"I still think you might be right," Hoshi said. "Kuro would spend most of his time in this room. He'd want Tsuki close to him. He knows she's the only one who can take the Star Scepter away."

"But why didn't he kill her?" Neo asked. "That seems like the best way to keep her from retaking the scepter."

"Who knows?" Hoshi said. "Let's keep looking."

…

Law sliced his sword at the meteors that Kuro kept firing at them. He was doing his best to keep his mind on the fight rather than on Neo. Still, he kept an eye on her. He had to know she was all right. He knew she would be safer inside the castle. But that was only if Kuro didn't notice she was gone. If Kuro did notice there was no doubt in Law's mind that the man would go after Neo. And he was not going to allow anyone to hurt Neo and their baby. He looked to his friends. They all were doing their best to not get hit with the meteors as well. Kuro was moving too fast for them. They needed a way to slow the man down. Then he saw Penguin take off. His subordinate's body disappeared. Suddenly, the meteors stopped.

Kuro cried out before hitting the ground.

"You're not the only one with the powers of velocity," Penguin said coming into view again.

"You pirates are nothing but pests," Kuro said. He stood up and waved his hand in the air.

"He's up to something," Zoro said.

Just then several Astro Units and Laden's crew appeared.

"Well, hello, Law," Makoto said. "So lovely to see you again."

Law frowned. Seeing her wasn't something he wanted to do.

"Looks like Hoshi as right," Franky said.

"This is just great," Usopp said. "They set up a trap. And we walked right into it."

"It's not like we had a choice," Topaz said. "We'd still have to fight them."

 _'Law, what's wrong? Why are you frowning?'_

 _'Laden and his crew, plus the Astro Units, just showed up.'_

 _'Are you all okay?'_

 _'We are for now. But I don't think we're going to be able to keep this up for long. They out number us. Most likely they're going to wear us down with sheer numbers.'_

 _'We're still looking for Tsuki. Just hold on a little bit longer.'_

Law nodded. They were going to try, but they all had their limits.

"Let's get to it then," Makoto said running her hand over her thigh. "Kuro said I can keep you once this fight is over."

"Wow! Such a hottie!" Sanji said.

Law scoffed. "You won't be getting anything but a severe beating."

"Oh? You're the type of man to hit a woman?" Makoto listed her head.

"I am. But in this case I'm not the one you should worry about," Law said with a smirk.

"You're not talking about that girl from before?" Makoto shook her head. "She's just a child."

"A child that you don't want to mess with," Law said.

"Then where is she? I would love to fight her." Makoto looked around. "Oh, dear. She doesn't appear to be here. Could it be that she went to find Tsuki?"

"What?" Kuro looked around. "Another one of the pirates is missing too."  
"Crap," Law cursed.

"Allow me to go after them," Makoto said. "I have a small vendetta against the blue haired wench."

"Fine," Kuro said. "But I expect you to win. If you lose you will die by my hand."

"Don't worry, Master Kuro. I won't let you down," Makoto said heading for the castle.

"No you don't! Room!" Law swiped his sword at her.

"Velocity." Makoto moved out of the way.

Law cursed again. "She never said she had a star flake. I'm such an idiot."

"Law! Go after Neo!" Sanji said.

"Right!" Law took off towards the castle. _'Neo! Makoto's coming to fight you!'_

 _'Okay. I'll be waiting for her.'_

 _'I'll be there in a few seconds'_ Law warped himself into the castle.

…

Neo walked away from the wall she was running her hand over.

"Something wrong, Neo?" Chopper asked.

Before she could answer, she winced in pain. Looking at her arm she found blood leaking down her skin.

"Neo!" Chopper ran over to her in his human form. "What happened?!"

"A woman Law and Luffy were sailing with is in here," Neo said looking around the room. "She has a velocity star flake." Another cut appeared on her arm. "I can't sense the star flake."

"Well, that's interesting," a female said before appearing before them. "I guess that means I have the upper hand."

Neo summoned a fire crystal and shot a blast of fire at her.

"Too slow," Makoto said disappearing again.

"Ignore her. We have to keep looking," Hoshi said before getting thrown into the air.

"Hoshi!" Neo caught him with her winds and pulled him into her arms.

"I'm fine," Hoshi said.

"She's running around us," Chopper said. "I can smell her but she's moving too fast for me to strike at her."

"Maybe I can." Neo combined her wind and fire crystals to create a stream of fire. It didn't work. The wind Makoto was creating was pushing back again Neo's wind and fire. "She's good."

"What do we do?" Chopper asked.

"Just hold on," Neo said before Law warped into the room. She watched him slice his sword.

"What the heck?!" The wind Makoto was creating vanished. Her body was split in two. "What happened?!"

"You threatened my love," Law said. "That's what happened. And you're going to pay for it with your life."

Fear rose in Makoto's eyes. "Y-you can't do this."

"It's your own fault," Law said before looking at Neo. "Keep looking. But hurry. I don't know how long we can keep this up outside."

"We're trying," Neo said before Law warped himself and Makoto out of the room.

"So how are we going to find Tsuki?" Chopper asked.

"Maybe Kuro can help us with that," Hoshi said.

"How?" Chopper asked.

"By using his scent," Hoshi said. "This room is big. And he will only be walking a path from the door to the throne unless there's a ball. Since he's been looking for that crystal he'll most likely not have had a ball recently." He ran over to the thrones and sniffed them. "Let's see where his scent leads."

"I'll help." Chopper ran over to the thrones. He sniffed them then the two of them stared sniffing around the room.

Neo waited and watched them while sensing out where Law was. She rolled her eyes at the joy he was having in torturing Makoto before finally warping back outside to help in the battle.

"Hey! I think I found something," Chopper said.

Neo turned her eyes to him. He was near the wall where a tapestry used to hang. "What is it?"  
"Kuro's scent just ends right here," Chopper said.

"There's got to be a secret door there then," Hoshi said running his eyes over the walls. "Now we just have to figure out how to get into it."

"We don't really have time for that. I'm sorry," Neo said. Summoning her earth crystals she created some vines and jammed them into the floor. Once they had a good hold she pulled part of the floor up, revealing a set of stairs.

"Nothing like the direct approach," Hoshi said before running down the stairs.

Neo followed, using a fire crystal to light their path. The stairs led them down into an open room. In the middle of the room was a bed with Tsuki laying on it.

"Tsuki!" Hoshi ran over to her and jumped upon her chest. "Tsuki?"

"Is she all right?" Neo and Chopper walked over to her.

Chopper pulled out his stethoscope and pressed it to her chest. "She's alive and breathing."

"He probably used the scepter to put her into a deep sleep," Hoshi said.

"Then how do we wake her up?"  
"Like this," Hoshi said. His body started to glow.

"What are you doing?" Neo asked.

"My job. Don't worry. Everything will be fine," Hoshi said. His body turned into pure light. He flowed over Tsuki's body.

"Hoshi." Tears burned Neo's eyes.

Tsuki opened her eyes.

"She's awake," Chopper said. "How are you feeling, Tsuki?"

"Like my head's about to explode." Tsuki took Chopper's hand and sat up. She looked at Neo. "Why are you crying?"

"Hoshi," Neo said. "He's…"

"He's okay," Tsuki said. "He didn't die."

"He didn't?" Neo asked.

"No." Tsuki shook his head. "He just did part of his job as a guardian. The scepter has always had the ability to put rulers to sleep. It's a counter measure to ensure that there was a way to take them down if someone became a tyrant. Each of us rulers have a guardian to wake them up in case of something like happened."

"I see," Neo said.

"I also see that you all found each other," Hoshi said. "How's the battle going?"  
"We need you to use the scepter," Neo said.

"Of course." Tsuki nodded. "Let's get going."

…

Shaking the blood off his sword, Law gave Makoto's lifeless body one last glance before warping back outside to the battle. Scanning his eyes around he saw that a lot of the Astro Unit and Laden's men had been defeated. But his friends and allies were clearly wearing down from the battle. He could easily see they all were huffing and puffing, a few of the weaker ones were having trouble standing. Making his Room bigger, he cut as many Astro Units in half as he could. Zoro and Sanji then leaped into action and knocked them out or killed them. He didn't really take the time to check.

 _'Law! We're coming!'_ Neo called through their bond.

 _'All right. We're as ready as we possibly can be.'_ Law looked over at Luffy. With a light nod he gave Luffy the clue it was time to put their plan into action.

Luffy leaped into the air. "Gum Gum Gatlin!"

"When are you going to learn that's not going to work on me?" Kuro asked. He aimed the scepter towards Luffy. "Now. Die." The scepter disappeared from his hand. "What?!"

"Your reign of terror ends here, Kuro," Tsuki said.

"You! But how?!" Kuro asked. "I hid you!"

"Lucky for me I have friends that wouldn't give up on me," Tsuki said. She aimed the scepter at the crystal formation. A beam shot out of it. "Star Scepter Shatter!"

The beam hit the crystal formation. It shattered it to pieces. The ground stop shaking.

"Star Scepter! Scatter the crystals once more!" Tsuki said. The crystals were gathered into the scepter's glow before being shot out over the sea. "It's over, Kuro."

"No!" Kuro shrieked. He lunged towards Tsuki.

"No way," Zoro said running his sword through Tsuki's chest. "You're not going to hurt her again."

Kuro stumbled back from Zoro before collapsing to the ground.

"Finally. It's over," Nami said.

"Yes, it is. Star Scepter Transport." Tsuki waved the scepter into the air, transporting those who attacked her and her friends to the dungeons.

"Great. Can we eat now?" Luffy asked. "Hey, where's Hoshi?"  
"He's resting right now," Tsuki said. "And you all should rest as well. I'll have a meal prepared."

"Don't go through the trouble," Robin said. "You've been through a lot."

"All I've been doing is sleeping since Kuro scattered you all," Tsuki said. "You all need a good meal and some time to rest."

"Great!" Luffy said.

"I could use some rest." Usopp plopped down on the ground.

"So could I," Neo said. She leaned against Law when he walked over to her. "Baby's tired too."

"Then rest. You remember where you room is?" Tsuki asked.

"We do now that we have our memories back," Neo said. Taking Law's hand she lead him into the castle until they reached the room they had stayed in the first night they arrived in this place. She crawled onto the large bed while Law pulled off his boots. Once he was laying down she snuggled up against him, instantly falling asleep.

Law kissed her hair before closing his eyes.

An hour and a half later, Neo woke up to Law watching her sleep. She smiled at him. "Hey. I thought you were sleeping too."

"I was. Then I woke up so I could watch you sleep." Law ran his hand over her stomach before leaning down and placing a kiss on their baby's home.

Neo smiled. Her heart fluttered at his touch.

Law began to kiss up her stomach, reaching her neck he sucked on her soft spot.

Neo hummed and arched her back. She tugged on his hair.

Obeying her signal he lifted up and captured her lips with his. His hand roamed over her sides, pulling her shirt up.

…

"Are you sure you can't stay a little longer?" Tsuki asked. Standing on the docks, she looked over the pirates. Some were standing on the docks with her while the rest were already on the Sunny.

"I'm sorry," Neo said. "We really have to get going. The rest of our crew is going to wonder where we are. For some reason they didn't follow us into this place." She lowered her eyes before looking back up at Tsuki. "How's Hoshi?"  
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Tsuki smiled.

"Hey!" Hoshi jumped upon Neo's shoulder. "Do you think I'd really let you leave without saying goodbye?"  
"Hoshi!" Neo squealed.

"I'm so going to miss you," Hoshi said while purring and rubbing his cheek against Neo's.

"I'll miss you too," Neo said.

"You all are welcome here at any time," Tsuki said. "I look forward to seeing you again."

"We're totally going to come back here one day," Luffy said.

"Only if we don't get scattered again," Nami said.

"Time to go," Law said.

Neo nodded. She placed Hoshi down on the docks before lifting them up and placing them on the ship. They all waved goodbye as the Sunny moved away from the cluster.

In a few minutes the cave they came through appeared. They passed through it, slower than they entered.

Neo watched as the cave finally opened out to the New World. Sitting there in the water was the Polar Tang. "Finally. We're back home."

"And we're going to have a lot of explaining to do," Law said noting the worried looks on their crew's faces.

"Still. It's good to be back," Neo said.

"Hey! What the heck happened?!" Jean Bark asked when the Sunny pulled up beside them. "The sea weed got all bunched up at this cave. We had no idea where you went!"

"We're so sorry!" Neo said. "But you're not going to believe what happened!"

 **Author's Notes: Again, I'm sorry this came out terrible. And, again, I plan to never write a story like this again unless I do some serious planning for it. But thanks for reading. I'm off to work on other fics I've wanted to get up. I'll be doing more Neo/Law but also some stories with the Straw Hats and OCs. See you later.**


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